Distractions
by TennantBird
Summary: Audrey, a hard-working, independent girl, moves to Waffle Island with the intention of training at the carpenter's so she can  start her own business someday. The last thing she expects is to fall in love - especially with someone like Luke.
1. Chapter 1

Hi there. I'm Audrey, born on Fall eleventh in a tiny, remote town located in the middle of nowhere. I was my parents' second and last child, born on a whim seven years after my older brother Shawn. My father died when I was six in an accident during his job, leaving my mother to finish raising blonde-haired, blue-eyed Shawn for another three years and then me after he moved out. I got my green hair and other features from my father, except my brown eyes. I didn't receive a ton of attention from Mom or Shawn when I was little, because he was always out doing something mischievous and Mom was always at work trying to support us. Those factors led to me becoming very independent and slightly secluded. I wasn't a master in the art of socializing. My main goal in life became to get out of the virtually unknown town I grew up in and go make a better, more luxurious living elsewhere.

I was going to turn eighteen in two seasons when I made the life-changing decision to move to Waffle Island.

_What a silly name,_ I thought for the thousandth time as I flipped through the brochure we had received in the mail. _But anywhere's better than this puny village._ The brochure was aimed towards ranchers, and I was no farmer, but I was sure they wouldn't mind another person moving in.

Upon further investigation, I found just what I was really looking for. A carpenter's establishment. Hopefully the master was accepting apprentices. There was only one way to find out! Even if they weren't enrolling apprentices, I could still learn in unconventional ways. I didn't plan on staying on Waffle Island terribly long, either. It was still too small for my tastes. I needed somewhere bigger, where I could get my name known.

When I told Mom my plan, she was torn between excitement and anxiety. "My little girl," she'd say over and over. "All grown up, going off to be a great carpenter in her father's footsteps. Dan would have been so proud. _I'm_ so proud. But I'll be so lonely here without you... Promise me you'll write at least, Audrey! Promise!"

I loved my mom and I fully intended to write to her, but she did have slightly clingy tendencies since Dad passed away. She sort of freaked out after Shawn moved out. Luckily she had many friends in our tiny town that would support her when I left. Still, I worried for her. She was the closest person to me; my only friend, really.

That couldn't stop me from my goals, though. I had to steel myself. Mom could and would survive without me.

So the season of Spring was spent preparing for my big move away from home. Well, "preparing" was mostly packing and getting rid of old stuff. Mom helped a lot, of course. But I think she misinterpreted my intentions for moving to Waffle Island.

"Oh, look, it's your baby blanket!" Mom held up a small yellow square of fabric. The only indication it was a blanket of any sort was a ribbon attached to one corner and a swirly design embroidered along one edge. "Better keep this."

I didn't pay much attention to her remark, but then she held out the blanket to me. I blinked. "Why would I want my baby blanket? I have no use for it," I refused.

"For my first grandson or -daughter, of course!" Mom chuckled. "I can partly see why you're moving away. There are no suitable men here for you..." She went on, but I wasn't listening anymore.

"M-Mom... That's not why I'm moving! I told you; I need to train as an apprentice carpenter before moving somewhere bigger and more well-known. I don't have time for romance."

I braced myself for her face to fall, but instead a gentle, somehow knowing smile came to her mouth. That was almost worse. "You're just like your father. Exactly the same. It's incredible, really."

I didn't get a word of what she was saying, but I didn't like that look on her face. I pushed the blanket back at her. "Really, Mom, I think you should keep it. You have more memories of it than I do."

She didn't say another word; just took the blanket and turned around. She started sorting through more of my belongings.

I felt somewhat unsettled by her odd behavior, but I did my best to forget about it.

Before either Mom or I even knew it, it was almost time to leave. Five days before I boarded the boat headed for my new home, though, Mom just had to call up my older brother. But I didn't know, of course, until he waltzed through the door the next day.

The door burst open just as I walked past, making me jump out of my skin. Then I cringed as I heard Shawn's voice; "Sis! A little bird told me you're all grown up and moving away! You didn't think you could get away with sneaking off without saying goodbye to me, did you?" All I saw was a pair of electric blue eyes and I shock of blonde hair before my older brother swept me up and crushed me in a hug.

_Mom..._ I growled in my head, trying to breathe.

"Oh, Shawn, you're here." Mom spoke after her name sounded in my mind. Her voice was pleased.

He let go of me to go jug our mother more gently. And sincerely. I didn't quite understand why he had sounded so excited to see me. We were never very close. In fact, I preferred it that way.

Mom smoothed out his messy hair that matched her own in color, then held his face out, starting to fuss over him since he hadn't been here so long. That's probably really why he came; to see her. He put on the act with me to convince her he cared.

Unfortunately, I found out Shawn was staying until I left. So much for my planned quality time with Mom. My obnoxious brother would be in my face every two seconds.

For the last three days in my hometown, I kept to myself because of my brother's presence. Nothing out of the ordinary, really, but I had been hoping to have some one-on-one time with my mother before I left. As I mentioned, that wouldn't be happening with Shawn around.

The morning I left, I tried my hardest not to let my growing disappointment get the better of me. Mom wouldn't stop worrying if I left her without a smile on my face.

I even managed to give Shawn a hug. I didn't _hate_ him. He could just... wear me out. Very quickly.

"Have fun out there, little sis," he told me, sounding as if I was just going away for a week or so. "Make Dad proud."

I blinked. For once in his life, Shawn sounded completely serious. Even a little solemn. With a tiny smile, I nodded. "I will."

The moment would have been a good memory for me if the half-grin I had been expecting from the get-go hadn't appeared on his face. "And while you're at it, get me a brother-in-law over there! We need another guy in the family."

I felt my cheeks grow hot, but tried to keep my cool and scoffed. "You and I both know that's unlikely to happen." I hefted up my single suitcase, meaning to end the conversation.

"I know Mom would appreciate some grandchildren," Shawn pressed, ignoring my hint.

"Well then why don't you get married and have kids?" I retorted, beginning to feel flustered. "We all know how much you like girls!"

He looked taken aback and didn't say anything else. I was too ruffled to be smug. Don't get me wrong, kids are fine, but I honestly just couldn't see me with any. My future was going to be too busy. Plus, why did everyone think I would make a great mom? I didn't have the patience for babies!

Shawn didn't look me in the eyes as he said goodbye. The girls comment probably rattled him. I didn't pause to consider whether I would regret this later.

I hugged my mom good and tight. Out of everything, I would definitely miss her the most.

"Take care of yourself, Mom," I commanded rather than suggested. "I'll be fine. I'll be sure to write a lot."

She smiled sadly. If I wasn't mistaken her brown eyes looked watery. "I would say I'll finally have a quiet house, but that only really worked for Shawn."

I had to crack a smile at that, but on the inside I was fretting about her as much as she was about me. _And after Shawn left you practically had a panic attack,_ I couldn't help but remember. Good thing Shawn was staying with her for a few more days after I left. If there was one thing he was good for, it was soothing Mom.

Telling myself I wouldn't cry, I wouldn't cry, I took a deep breath, gave Mom another hug, then turned around to face the boat that would be taking me to my new life. It wasn't by any means luxurious - it was an old fishing boat by the looks of it - but it would do the job. Setting my jaw, I lifted my bag and brought it up the ramp.

Greeting me at the top of the walkway was a kind-looking old man who wore a long navy blue raincoat and a matching sailor's cap. He held a pipe in his mouth and the skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

"Hello, miss! I'm guessing you're my cargo on this trip," he chuckled. "I'm the captain of this ship, Pascal. I hope you'll enjoy the ride. Here, let me take your bag."

I murmured a thank you, then, as he left, went to stand by the railing. Mom was searching for me from the dock. When she saw me her face lightened up and she waved. Shawn was nowhere to be seen.

_Good riddance,_ I thought huffily towards my sibling. I was still feeling stung by his pushiness at me getting married. But I put on a happy face and waved back to Mom.

"We'll be leaving port in five minutes," Pascal noted as he walked past me. "Let me know if you need more time, though. We're in no rush."

I nodded. I was the only passenger as far as I was aware, and this wasn't exactly a cargo ship, so there probably wasn't much of a schedule. Still, I was sure the captain wanted to be home soon and to his family if he had any, so I didn't ask for more time.

Right after Pascal sounded the one minute warning, Mom called up, "I know you'll make us proud, Audrey!"

I chewed the inside of my mouth, then, to save myself from making a fool of myself by bursting into tears, tore down the ramp as fast as I could, nearly squeezed the life out of Mom one last time, then bounded back up to the ship.

Below, Mom was crying a little, but mostly laughing at my stunt as Pascal blew the boat's horn, someone on the dock removed the ramp, and we started moving. I waved until my mother and hometown were just blended-together blotches in the distance, continuing to watch in that direction until it was altogether gone. Then I closed my eyes and turned my head the other direction, towards my new home and life. A clean break.

I don't know how long I stared out at the never-ending ocean, but it felt like a while before Pascal came down from wherever he had been - probably steering the boat - to chat.

"Hello again, miss," he greeted me cheerfully. "Have you liked the sailing experience so far? I take it you've never been out on the open ocean before."

"Oh, uh, no, I've never been sailing before. I... guess I like it. It's peaceful." I tried to be polite, but I didn't have much experience with strangers. The community where I grew up was pretty closely-knit, so even though I didn't really have any friends, I still knew at least everyone's name around town.

He smiled and nodded, much to my relief. "It may take a while to get used to, but I'm sure you'll learn to really enjoy it... Ah, I'm sorry, I don't think I ever caught your name."

"It's Audrey."

He didn't have much to work with with my short answer, so the captain struggled to continue the conversation. "So... When is your birthday, Audrey?"

"Fall eleventh."

"Fall, eh? I was born in Winter myself." There was along pause, as neither of us knew what to say. Then he seemed to think of something. "May I ask why you've chosen to move to Waffle Island? I must say, it's rare for a new resident, let alone a young one like yourself."

I shrugged. "It was time to move out." I didn't really want to be reminded of Mom back at home - er, my old home - undoubtedly worrying about me.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find it to your liking there. Beautiful scenery, lots of good food, nice people." Pascal smiled as he described his homeland.

_Then why are so few people moving there?_ I wondered. _It's certainly not very expensive to buy a house there, and if everything is as Pascal describes, I would have thought people would be pouring in._ I decided it would be somewhat rude to voice my thoughts, so I kept it to myself. But when I glanced at the old captain again, his smile had faded and he looked somewhat troubled.

In an unspoken agreement the conversation ended and he returned to the wheel. Our talk wasn't going much of anywhere anyways. Normally I only spoke when necessary, hence my curt replies. I wasn't trying to be rude; I just didn't have any social grace. Everyone always said I took after my father a lot in that respect.

I stared out ahead at the seemingly eternal sea for a long while afterwards, right up until the sun started to set. I was going over and over my plans to earn enough money to move on from this island to bigger places, where I could get more well-known and expand my business. The other reason I was coming here was to learn the basics of carpentry. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I wouldn't have to be doing that if my father was still alive.

After the sky had begun to redden in the west and darken everywhere else, Pascal came again and showed me to my sleeping quarters. I slept surprisingly well, and I woke up early in the morning as always. But it seemed I wasn't the only early riser for once. Pascal was up and about as well, preparing for our entrance to Waffle Island's harbor.

I stood out on the deck again, and this time instead of uniform ocean surrounding us on all sides, there was a dark splotch ahead. I felt a thrill of anticipation and nervousness. We would be at my new home within a couple hours.

Then I frowned at myself. I shouldn't get too attached. This was just temporary.

Soon we were only a few minutes away. I was getting impatient. How slow could a boat be?

Finally, we pulled in next to the short stretch of dock. The captain came and stood next to me again. "Well, here it is. Waffle Island! I wish you good luck in whatever goals you have and hope to see you again."

I just nodded, already having my bag in hand, and shot glances at land beside us, trying to hint I wanted off this ship.

I couldn't be sure, but I think he chuckled to himself quietly as he picked up my clues and released the ramp down onto the dock. He gave a bow to allow me off. I bowed back, then scurried down to the dock.

Man, it was good to be back on solid ground! At the end of the dock I found myself in front of what looked to be a bait and tackle shop. It seemed to be closed, which was sort of odd since it was only a Monday. Sure enough, though, with a closer look at the sign, it proclaimed, "Closed on Mondays and Holidays."

When I turned to the left I was met by the sight of a small, round man hurrying towards me. Judging by his nice suit and silly-looking hair, I guessed he was someone of importance before he spoke.

"Ah, hello! I'm sorry I'm late. I hope I haven't kept you waiting." Despite being flustered, his face was lit with a wide smile. "I understand you're the newest resident to our lovely island! Everyone is so delighted to have someone new here." He spread his arms wide in enthusiasm. "May I ask your name? I'm afraid I've forgotten." He gave an apologetic chuckle.

"Audrey." I was unmoved by his cheerfulness.

The plump man was visibly thrown off by my lack of response, but to his credit he got right back on track. "A pleasure to meet you, Audrey! I'm Hamilton, the mayor of this fine town!" He gave a bow and paused.

I bowed back.

The mayor cleared his throat, again trying to make up for my quietness. I almost felt bad, but I didn't know what to say.

"Well, what do you say to a tour of Waffle Town?"

"Oh, I think I'm all right. Maybe if you could just show me to my house and the carpenter's..." I started, finally speaking more than one word.

"Nonsense!" I was instantly interrupted. "I don't want you to be lost when you come to town later!"

_I'm sure I'd figure something out..._ I thought exasperatedly. It didn't seem like an awfully big place. _Either way, I don't plan on coming to town that often if the carpenter's isn't here._

Mayor Hamilton ended up giving me the full tour anyways. Luckily it didn't take all that long because, as I'd suspected, Waffle Town wasn't very big. My thoughts most of the time were along the lines of _He talks a lot._ The mayor had seemed to pick up on my earlier questions, though, so he wasn't completely ignorant. He showed me the path to Caramel Falls, then walked up the winding path to the top of the gentle hill, where a tiny house - my house - sat. It was more of a hut than a house, but it seemed very quiet and peaceful. Mr. Hamilton gave me a slip of paper telling where the carpenter's building was, wished me good luck, then was back off to Waffle Town.

I figured I might as well check out my house while I was there, even though I was really itching to get to the carpenter's. It was only around one o'clock, so I had plenty of time.

I cracked open the door and peeked inside, then entered all the way. Slightly stale air greeted me; this house hand't been occupied for a while. As I stepped forward, a cloud of dust flew up, disturbed by air rushing through the doorway. I coughed and waved the air around my face. Yeesh, I had some cleaning up to do. Turning on the lights revealed a very small room, with a straw bed in the far left corner, a rickety table in the middle with four chairs, and a short kitchen in the right corner. There was also a bookcase on the far wall, and a storage box for various items. I sighed. It could use some work, but then again, it was only temporary. I planned on staying here for around three years.

I set my bag down and rummaged through it until I found what I was looking for; a picture of me, my parents, and Shawn, all four of us grinning stupidly. It was one of the only pictures in existence in which I was smiling big. Mom had insisted I bring it. I had made a big show of being exasperated and saying I didn't want it, but to tell you the truth I was glad to have an excuse to have brought it. If anyone asked, though, my mom had slipped it into my suitcase without me knowing.

I lightly kissed the glass and set the frame down on the nightstand by the bed, I exited my cramped house and hoped the move to Waffle Island was worth it.

Outside I glanced around behind my house, where the path continued up. There was a sign that said "Ganache Mine District" with an arrow pointing up the path, but there was a giant log-like piece of wood blocking the way. Upon closer inspection, it was actually an incredibly oversized root. It snaked towards the mountain to the right. Eyes wide, I thought, _What behemoth of a tree could have a root this big?_

But my main concern was that it was preventing anyone from passing through. It was quite inconvenient to live so close to my future workplace but have to take the long way anyways. Frowning, I made my way down into the Maple Lake District, figuring there had to be another way up. My hunch was right.

I tried to look confident as I walked through Maple Lake and Ganache Mine, since there were a couple people out who didn't know me, of course. They stared inquisitively. I just looked straight ahead.

The Ganache Mine District was long from one end to the other. I went past a farm, what looked to be the entrance to a mine shaft, and the blacksmith's before coming to the last building, spaced apart from the rest. I didn't need to double-check the piece of paper Hamilton had given me, since in big, bold print across the doorway it said "Dale's Carpentry".

I stuffed the paper into my jean's pocket and started making my way around the fence that surrounded the building. Right as I approached the gap in the barrier, I nearly bumped into someone carrying a big bundle of wood.

"Hello!" the person said, peeking from behind the stack. It was a blonde-haired boy, probably a year or two younger than me. His green eyes widened slightly as he didn't recognize me right away. "Oh, I haven't seen you before... You must be the new resident, then? I'm Bo, one of the carpenter's apprentices." He smiled, then looked apologetic. "...I would bow, but I kind of have my hands full."

Surprisingly, I found myself smiling back. "That's all right. Yes, I am the new resident. I'm Audrey."

"So, are you going around to meet everyone?" Bo asked.

"No, actually," I told him. "I came here to apply for apprenticeship, if that's possible." Uh oh, I hadn't thought of what I would do if they weren't accepting apprentices...

Bo blinked in surprise. "Wha... Really? I-I mean, yeah, okay! Let me show you in!" He took the lead into the building, and I tried to keep from raising my eyebrows. Obviously they hadn't had a new apprentice in some time, it seemed.

Inside it smelled strongly of sawdust, as expected. There were planks of wood stacked against the left wall along with a workbench for sanding and polishing furniture, then finished furniture lining the opposite ones. By the planks was also a saw table, where a figure was cutting away. Ahead at the service desk was a large, gruff-looking man with navy blue hair and a stern expression. Bo set down his bundle of sticks and led me to the man.

"Hey, Bo," the man greeted us. "Who's that you have with you?"

"This is Audrey, the new resident," Bo introduced me. "Audrey, this is Dale, head carpenter."

I bowed and attempted to get on to the point, but before I could speak the table saw suddenly stopped whirring. Another boy's voice piped up; "Yo, Bo, did you get that wood-" He stopped mid-sentence, probably in reaction to seeing me. I turned my head to get a better look at him.

_Oh boy,_ I groaned in my head. With his spiky blue hair, flaming bandana, ripped sleeves, fingerless gloves, and sharp object hanging from a string around his neck, this boy looked like just the kind of person I usually avoided.

He blinked his cat-like yellow eyes as he in turn took in my appearance. I couldn't have left a big impression on him. I wore a simple orange blouse with red trim, plain blue jeans, brown boots, and white gloves. If anything my hair would've drawn the most attention. Mint-green and long, I pulled it into two braids on either side of my head, tied with big red ribbons. A section shorter than the rest of my hair fell down the side of my face, sometimes partially covering my eye.

"Check it out, it's the new resident!" he finally said as if I were deaf, grinning. He thrust his hand out towards me. "Hiya, I'm Luke! So what's your name?"

"Audrey..." I said, doubtfully eyeing his hand. I knew he wanted me to shake it, but I was used to just bowing. I considered refusing, but then decided it would give a bad impression to Dale, and then he might not hire me. By the looks of it Luke was his son. Almost daintily I took his hand and gave it a small shake before withdrawing it and discreetly pulling my glove on farther.

"Nice!" He didn't seem to notice my reluctancy. "A pretty name for a pretty girl."

I blinked in surprise and barely restrained an incredulous "Huh?" _Someone is a charmer, I see,_ I thought, definitely caught off-guard. I felt more offended than flattered, but I think I failed to keep color off my cheeks. I also forgot to manage a thank you, because that was, after all, meant to be nice.

I turned my head to Dale, my side bangs hanging so Luke couldn't see my face. "Anyways, Mr. Dale, I came here to become your apprentice."

This time the head carpenter was caught off-guard as I got straight to the point. "Oh?" he said after blinking a few times at me, as if to make sure I wasn't joking. "Why would you want to become a carpenter?"

"Following in my dad's footsteps," I said to keep it simple.

"I see." Dale stroked his square chin as if deep in thought. I had a feeling he was acting, though. "Well, I can tell from the light in your eyes that you're determined. If I said no you'd probably find a way of getting my mentorship one way or another. So sure, I'll take on another apprentice. Welcome to your new workplace, Audrey!"

I was initially taken aback that he could already tell that much about me just from my eyes - or so he claimed. Dale was right. I probably would have bugged him to let me in or just tagged along with everyone if he had refused. Then I was relieved that he said yes. And then I was puzzled. Was that it? No... papers to sign, or entrance ceremony? Or even a test to see if I was good enough? It seemed unprofessional... But oh well. I was officially on my way to fulfilling my dreams! The least I could do was be grateful. So I smiled and bowed back. "Thank you so much, Mr. Dale. I won't disappoint you."

He smiled back through his bushy mustache. "No need to be so formal. You can just call me by my normal name."

I nodded uncertainly, then turned to see Luke and Bo regarding me with a more curious air to their gazes. Bo was the first to snap out of the daze. "Congratulations, Audrey! I'm looking forward to working with you."

Yet again I found myself smiling back. This kid was always getting on my good side somehow. I could tell we'd be fast friends.

"Yeah, congrats!" Luke chipped in. It was a nice gesture, but then he ruined it by adding, "I guess since we'll be working with a girl, though, that means we won't be able to talk about other hot girls anymore." He sounded disappointed.

My smile quickly dissolved into a disapproving glare and Bo blushed, protesting. "Luke! Don't say that!" Dale gave what I couldn't make out to be a snort or an intrusive grunt to attempt to hint Luke that he wasn't making a good impression.

Of course the blue-haired boy didn't pay any mind to his colleagues' warnings and went right on to the next subject undeterred. "Well, Bo, let's show her around, huh?"

Then it hit home. This idiot was another apprentice as well, so I'd be stuck with him six out of seven days of the week, rain or shine. For the next three years. Great.

"All right, Luke," my more favorite apprentice answered. "Come on outside, Audrey; we'll show you the forest."

I nodded and followed them out, still silently dreading having to work with Luke.

Outdoors, the path to the left led upwards towards the woods. To the right, I could only assume that was the way to the giant root I had seen earlier. It only irked me more now that I knew not only did the blocked path lead to the Ganache Mine District, but almost directly to the carpenter's. I'd have to see about getting it removed, maybe.

"Do you know anything about that large root blocking the path down there?" I asked as we went past. Really, I had directed the question at Bo, but of course Luke answered.

"Oh yeah, that's a root of the Mother Tree," he told me, but didn't explain further.

_Mother Tree..._ I thought, tilting my head. _I can see how it could be the mother of all trees, since it's so big._

"It's called the Mother Tree because it brought life to the island," Bo jumped in, having the grace to elaborate. He looked troubled though, like Pascal had on the journey here, and I did catch how he used past tense. "It's also said that it's where the Harvest Goddess gets her powers from."

"Oh," was all I could really say. I'd heard a thing or two about this island's goddess, but judging by how uncomfortable everyone seemed I figured it was a touchy subject. I had no intention of prying. "So this is the forest?"

We had come upon a clearing with trees dotted throughout it. A fence outlined the perimeter. Not much of a forest if you asked me... Behind the fence were less widely-dispersed trees.

"I know what you might be thinking, like, 'this isn't a forest'," Bo said. "But this is just the area of the forest we're allowed to cut lumber in. It's to monitor our destruction. And even here we have to replant trees once in a while."

"That makes sense," I said reasonably. When you thought about it, it was a good idea.

"But now that there's three of us, we'll either have to cut less trees each or replant them more often," he continued, looking thoughtful.

"Aw, man!" Luke complained. "That means I'll have less time to practice my techniques! Not that it needs improvement or anything."

So he was a showoff too. I should've guessed.

"We'll figure something out," Bo said reassuringly. Then he shrugged at me. "That's pretty much all for today. Tomorrow come at eight o'clock and we'll get you an axe and introduce you to the daily routine." He smiled. "See ya!"

I nodded and bowed. "Goodbye."

Just as I turned around Luke also said goodbye, but I only raised a hand in reply as I walked away to Maple Lake.

When I got to my house, I laid awake in the unfamiliar bed for a while, thinking about my new career ahead of me. _I'm gonna make you proud, Dad,_ I thought before drifting off.

Back at the carpenter's, Luke and Bo stayed awake as well. Finally Bo spoke. "So what do you think of the new girl?"

"Audrey?" Luke mused, thought it was obvious Bo had meant her. "Well, she seemed a little... put off. Rude. Full of herself. I don't think she liked me." Bo couldn't see his friend in the dark, but Luke's expression was unreadable anyways.

"Oh, I thought she was all right. Though she did seem to give you a bit of a cold shoulder. Give her time and I'm sure she'll warm up to you-"

"Hey, I wasn't finished. I was gonna say that she's really cute and feisty too. I like her already!" The other boy grinned now.

Bo chuckled. "That's good... Just don't expect her to return that feeling right away."

In the morning I woke up at six AM sharp, as always, so I took my own sweet time getting ready for work. Really, just getting dressed. No special uniform or equipment; the longest part of my routine was braiding my hair, so I was done an hour earlier than work started. I figured I might as well get there early. Better late than never, but never late is better. Either way, it would take me around thirty minutes to get to work thanks to the Mother Tree's root. I sighed despite the sunny weather as I entered Maple Lake District.

When I got to the carpenter's, I hung around for a couple minutes, then hesitantly knocked on the door. I hoped they wouldn't mind me being too early, but I didn't let my uncertainty show on my face.

The door cracked open to reveal Luke's face, looking slightly puzzled. Recognition lit his face after he studied me for a few seconds, remembering me from yesterday. "Oh hey!" he said, confusion turning into a grin. He opened the door wider, inviting me inside. "I should've guessed you'd be early."

_What's that supposed to mean?_ I thought irritably, but didn't say anything besides "I hope you don't have a problem with that."

I'd meant it as a genuine concern, but I think he misinterpreted my muttered sentence as more of a threat. I made no attempt to correct myself, though, as Luke's expression was highly amusing.

I found out that I had accidentally intruded during their breakfast. They acted like it was no big deal, but I was a bit embarrassed with myself. Dale offered me some food but I declined, fuming at myself for being so careless. When I made a move to go stand by the door, though, all three of the boys insisted I sit at the table with them. It was a nice gesture, but it was pretty awkward sitting at a table with a bunch of practically strangers as they ate while I didn't. Oh well.

They tried to strike up meager conversation, but I was being uncooperative and only giving one-worded answers to their inquiries. Soon they backed off, resorting to talking to one another and hinting that I could offer input if I wanted. I stayed silent.

After the awkward breakfast, Bo and Luke seemed undeterred. They went to a tool box in the back of the building somewhere and came back with several axes for me to try out.

"Try to find one that has a good balance to it," Luke suggested enthusiastically.

"Thanks, but I know," I said. "I grew up with axes and stuff." I'd hefted my fair share of axes in the past. Before my father died. When I was a little girl. Of course, I was a tad rusty, but that was why I was enrolling as an apprentice in the first place. And there was no way I'd let Luke think he was better than me.

"Oh, well, if you ever need any tips, just ask the Axe Guru!" He pointed his thumb at himself, grinning.

I rolled my eyes and picked up another axe.

Soon I found one that felt nice in my arms, and decided that would be my new tool. Until I could get an upgrade, of course.

When Luke eyed my new blade closely, he suddenly grinned again. "Hey, you chose my first real axe! Good choice!"

I suddenly looked at the thing with a newfound distaste. But I didn't put it back; I wasn't _that_ against Luke. Better to have his old axe than one that didn't feel right.

When it came to be nine o'clock, we all trekked outside to the forest clearing. Luke was chatty all the way. "Usually, I stay inside and work on the saws until ten," he explained. "But since today is your first day I'll help out here!"

_At least I'll have some peace and quiet in the mornings..._ was my only response to that.

Once we reached our destination, Bo showed me to a thinner tree and offered to help me cut it down, since I was a beginner. With almost anyone else I would've been annoyed and insisted that they were underestimating me, but for some reason I didn't feel offended. We took turns hacking at the pine tree. In the background, Luke hovered nearby, looking disappointed that he had no share in the action. So of course he channeled his energy into talking.

Usually I found chopping wood to be relaxing, a time for me to let my mind wander. And a good workout. But with Mr. Motormouth blabbing away into my ear, the relaxing aspect was near impossible to achieve.

Bo was obviously used to this. He seemed completely unaffected by Luke's hyperactive chattering. I envied him, but I supposed I would get used to it in time.

After we felled the tree and collected lumber, the guys took me back inside to show me how to work the table saws. Then we practiced sanding wood, and then I helped them put together a table. Despite my carpenter past, I'd never put together any furniture before, but I turned out to be pretty good at it.

Before any of us knew it, it was closing time. Just enough time to finish up the table.

"Wow, Audrey, you have some skills!" Luke commented. "I know you said you'd wielded an axe before. How'd you learn?"

"Oh, my dad was a carpenter..." I tried to sound indifferent, but I was desperately hoping he wouldn't inquire further. Dad was a touchy subject for me.

Luckily Bo changed the subject. "All right, tomorrow we'll work out a schedule for you. How does that sound?"

I nodded. "Sounds good. See you tomorrow!" I smiled and bowed, then exited and headed back to my house as dusk began to fall. I felt pretty pleased with my first day of work.

Back inside, Luke turned to Bo. "Didja see that? She smiled at me! I think my flirting earlier worked. Dang, I'm smooth!"

Bo's expression was pained. "Luke, I think she tuned out half of what you said this morning." _And giving information on axe techniques isn't even flirting... And she didn't really smile at anyone in particular._

"Bah, you're just jealous!" He laughed loudly until Dale yelled at him to be quiet and help him organize for the next day.

Over the course of the week I settled into work and my new home quite well. My schedule turned out to be chopping wood in the morning until noon, then I got to go in and piece together furniture. I enjoyed coming up with inventive and new designs. Everyone was always impressed and somewhat surprised at my creativity; most people thought I was more of a math-oriented person than an artsy one.

Then on Friday, when Luke came up to the forest at ten, he started rambling on about other villagers. I made the grave mistake of saying, "Who's that?"

He looked at me funny. "You don't know Owen? He works at the blacksmith's, just down the road."

Not able to back out of this one, I shook my head.

Luke then listed off some other people's names. I didn't recognize any of them.

"You're telling me that, even though you walk by nearly every house in Maple Lake and Ganache Mine on your way here, you haven't talked to a single person?" He was incredulous. I shrugged helplessly, and he went on. "Man, even _Gill_ would make an effort to at least introduce himself to his neighbors, and he's the most anti-social guy on the island! Wow... Bo, are you hearing this?" He continued to rant about how appalled he was that I hardly knew anyone. I didn't bother to ask who "Gill" was. Funny name, though.

He could've given me a break, though. I mean, come on, I hadn't even been here for a week, and I had a job I needed to get used to and a house to organize. I'm sure I would've gotten out to introduce myself to everyone... at some point.

I had been tuning out Luke's constant chatter, as I had been for the past few days, but then he said something that snapped me back to attention.

"That's it. Audrey, I'm taking you to the Ocean Festival tomorrow so I can introduce you to everyone!" He beamed and put his hands on his hips, as though the idea solved all the world's problems.

I stared at him. "Excuse me? Do I get any say in this?" I hadn't even planned on going to the festival. I didn't have enough money to buy anything, so I figured why go and look at stuff I couldn't get even if I wanted? Also... crowds weren't my thing.

"Oh, come on, it'll be nice to have a friend with you!" he pointed out. "Or... I bet you didn't plan on going to the festival at all, huh?"

_Friend...?_ I suddenly found myself growing defensive. "Why do you say that? For all you know, I have plans to go with Bo." I grabbed Bo's arm and pulled him towards me. The poor kid looked bewildered.

Luke laughed. "No you don't; he would've told me! You're actually pretty predictable, you know that?"

I glared at him. This guy was worse than my brother.

Bo meekly spoke up. "Um, Audrey, I think it's time for us to go inside..."

Glancing over, I realized I was still clutching his arm. I let go and grumbled "Sorry..." then turned around and stalked towards the path.

"I'll pick you up at your place around eight!" Luke called, sounding cheerful as ever. "You live in the only house in Caramel District, right?"

I didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a yes!"

When Bo and I got back inside the shop, I sighed in frustration. "How did that even happen? How does he _do_ that?"

Bo let out a chuckle. "Well, he does have a lot of charisma. I sort of envy him, myself, for having such a likable personality."

I felt my eyebrows rise. "'Likable', really? I think he's pretty darn annoying, _my_self.

"Don't say that," he said with a softened, chastising tone. "I think you'll learn to like him sooner or later."

I made a sour face at the thought of Luke and I being buddies.

The next morning I got dressed as normal, then sat down at my small dining table to eat my breakfast and write a letter to my mother. I had written one to her on my first day, to assure her that I had gotten to the island safely, but this would be the first telling her of my experiences here.

After I wrote the letter, I had planned on spending my first day off relaxing. Yes, despite being a bit of a workaholic, I did like to kick back once in a while. Maybe I'd watch some TV, or bring a chair outside and sit in the Summer sun.

As for Luke, I hadn't forgotten about his proclamation of the day before. I was rather counting on _him_ forgetting.

But of course, right as I was signing the paper at a little after eight o'clock, a knock sounded on the door. Actually, more of a pound.

"Hey Audrey! I'm here just like I said I'd be!" At first his voice was muffled by the wall separating us, but then the door flung open to reveal the obnoxiously energetic blue-haired boy. He stood with his hands on his hips and he looked quite proud.

I was more mad than impressed. I felt my eye twitch. "You are such an idiot!" I exploded. Luke's proud face transformed to taken aback. "I could have been changing clothes! You don't just go busting into people's homes without permission!"

He blinked a couple of times. "Well, it was kinda your fault for leaving the door unlocked."

My face sunk into my hands. Dear Goddess, how was I ever going to survive three years here? One week was already almost too much!

"All right, now that that's out of the way, let's get going!" He strode across the room and grabbed my arm, attempting to lift me up. I swatted his hand away and sighed, then stood, figuring I didn't have much of a choice but to go with him at that point.

"Come on, let's get there quick, before it starts without us," he urged once we were outside. I huffed another sigh and sped up my pace.

"Why didn't you want to come in the first place?" Luke suddenly asked when we slowed down at the entrance to Waffle Town.

"Huh? Oh, I don't have any extra money to buy anything, so I didn't want to waste my time coming down here." I shrugged.

"What?" Luke stared at me, mouth agape. "Audrey, there's way more to a festival than just buying stuff!"

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I just kept walking. That cat-like gaze of his was starting to make me antsy.

We arrived on the beach right in time for Mayor Hamilton's opening speech for the festival. There were a lot of people I didn't know, and, as much as I hated to admit it, I found myself sticking quite close to Luke, as he was the only person I knew. That's what I got for being anti-social as a child. Luckily Luke didn't notice me practically clinging to his side.

The mayor's speech only lasted a minute or so. After everyone politely clapped, he seemed to notice me and immediately made a beeline towards Luke and me.

"Audrey! Good to see you. I heard you're now an apprentice at the carpenter's. Congratulations!" He was way too cheerful for his own good. "I see you're already getting along swimmingly with Luke!"

"Thanks..." I muttered, then self-consciously scooted away from my coworker. I couldn't very well say, _"Actually, I'm not getting along with Luke. He forced me here against my will and I find him extremely annoying,"_ so I went with an uncomfortable shrug instead.

Beside me, Luke started chatting away with the mayor. I was stuck just looking around at all the people on the beach. Right now there were only about eight or so festival-goers, but it seemed like an awful lot to me. Nervous jitters crawled up my spine at the sight.

After the exchange of loud laughter and grins was done between my companion and the short man, Hamilton turned his attention back to me. "Well, Audrey, I hope you have fun at today's festival!"

I bowed and prepared for Luke to whisk me off somewhere, but the mayor spoke again.

"Oh, wait! You haven't met my son, have you? Gill, come over here!"

From the platform by the fishery and the dock came a boy probably a year older than me, looking as annoyed that he was here as I felt. He had platinum hair with a large cowlick that even I had to admit looked amusing. He was dressed in nice clothes that seemed a little warm for Summer.

As soon as he was within distance we both bowed, then sized each other up. Even if I hadn't known he was looking at me I probably would've felt his icy blue stare. Those eyes were intense.

He brushed some hair behind his ear. "Hello. I'm Gill, Mayor Hamilton's son. You must be the new resident, hm? I was wondering where you had disappeared to." Gill smiled politely, but it wasn't a very genuine one.

I nodded. "I'm Audrey. I've been up at the Ganache Mine District for most of my first week here; I'm the newest carpenter's apprentice."

"Are you?" Interest lit up his eyes. "They haven't had a new apprentice for some time. I'm glad you found a job so quickly."

"Thank you." Suddenly I became aware of Luke watching our exchange intently. "Well, I suppose I had better get going... See you around."

Now he nodded. "All right. Goodbye. And good luck with Luke," he added quietly. I had to smile at that. Gill and his father turned to leave.

"Whoa, man, you two could be twins!" Luke exclaimed in awe. "With the way you guys stare at people, someone could get hurt standing between you!"

I blinked. Did I really stare at people like that?

"Anyways, let's go further down the beach. I need to show you to everyone else."

I was reluctant to follow him, thinking, _"Show me" to everyone? What am I, some kind of prize?_ Apparently I took too long, because about halfway to the nearest person he turned around and grabbed my hand, telling me to come on. I wanted to snatch my hand away, but he had a firm grip.

"Hey Toby! What's up?" Luke called to a silver-haired boy with his back turned to us. He had a straw hat hanging from his neck over his back.

The alleged "Toby" turned around and smiled softly as he saw Luke. Or, I could only assume he saw Luke. His eyes looked as though they were closed. "Hi, Luke. Who's your friend?"

Why did everyone keep grouping Luke and me together as friends?

"This is Audrey. She's the new resident, and my new fellow student!" Luke told him before I had a chance to open my mouth.

"Oh, cool," Toby said breezily. "It's been a while since there's been any apprentices up there, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, Bo was the most recent one, and that was _forever_ ago."

Toby nodded, then acknowledged my existence by turning to look at me. "So Audrey, do you fish at all?"

"Um..." I was caught off-guard by the out-of-the-blue question. "Not really."

"Aw, that's too bad. Fishing is awesome. I work at On the Hook over there, so fishing is pretty much my life," he explained. "Well, aside from napping." He gave a small grin. "Anyways, maybe if you stop by the shop sometime I could teach you how to fish. If you want to, that is."

"I'll come too!" Luke butted in. "Fishing is fun!"

I ignored my companion. "Thanks for the offer, Toby. I might just hold you to it." Fishing did sound relaxing when I thought about it. A good way to spend a day off. Like I was supposed to be doing right then. I tried not to think about that too much.

"All right, one Saturday we'll try to make it down here," Luke promised as if him and I did everything together. My eyes narrowed slightly. "In the meantime, though, I have a ton of people I need to introduce to Audrey; she's like, anti-social so she didn't go and say hi to everyone when she first got here..." He paused to take a breath.

"Gee, thanks," I muttered darkly.

"So we're gonna go!" he finished.

"Okay," Toby said, an amused expression on his face. "See you later."

"Adios!" Luke yanked on my arm and promptly dragged me to a small seafood stand, where none other than the boat captain Pascal stood.

"Audrey!" my old acquaintance greeted me before Luke could start his introduction. "Good to see you. I haven't noticed you around town." His eyes rested on Luke. "But by the looks of it, you've already settled in fine!" He chuckled at my expression.

"Oh, you guys already know each other?" Luke sounded disappointed.

"How do you think I got here, moron?" I snapped. The "moron" part just slipped out unintended; I was becoming more and more irritable with him as this day wore on. Why did he have to butt in on everything I did? What didn't he get about me not being a very social person? We saw each other six out of seven days of the week already; wasn't that _enough?_

His mouth formed a tiny frown for a moment at my harsh words, but then it just seemed to slide off. He was back to his cheerful self in a heartbeat. How did he do that? Maybe he was used to being called names like that.

"Are you hungry, Audrey? Lemme get some seafood for you."

I stared at him. He was offering to buy me something right after I had insulted him to his face? How dense was this guy?

Luke took my strange look as a yes, apparently, because he dove his hand into his pocket, dug around for a few seconds, then proudly produced a crumpled wad of cash. Without another word he turned to Pascal and bought me a grilled clam. then himself a grilled fish of some kind I didn't recognize. I blinked at the clam he gave me. He couldn't have known, but I really liked clams. I suddenly felt bad for calling him an idiot.

"Th-Thanks..." I managed, sounding a little strangled.

"No problem!" There was that grin again.

Out of my peripheral vision I saw Pascal's face produce a smile. "Thanks for your business. Enjoy the festival, Audrey!" He winked, and I felt myself become uncomfortable at the tone of his voice. I didn't have time to properly address the captain about that wink, though, as Luke whisked me off to the next islander I was to meet.

The day wore on, and soon I had met Sue, Samson, Paolo, Ozzie, Kathy, and a bunch of other people Luke couldn't possibly expect me to remember the names of. If he pop-quizzed me on names, which I had been half-expecting him to do at any moment, I would most definitely fail.

At around one-thirty Luke came to sudden stop. I hadn't been paying attention and nearly ran into him. I started to ask what the holdup was when he turned and talked to me. Behind him was a droopy-eyed, unenthusiastic-looking man. His red-orange beret shadowed his face, making him look even more downcast. And Luke thought that I was unsociable...

"Craig says the stone-skipping contest is soon! Want to?" Luke asked eagerly.

I had a feeling that if I said no he'd still drag me into doing it somehow. I sighed. "Fine..."

Luke performed a fist pump. "All right! I'm totally gonna beat you, you know that, right?"

My eyes refocused on him, my eyebrows raising. Was that a challenge I just heard? My mouth twisted into a half-smile. Luke did _not_ know what he had just gotten himself into. I was highly competitive, and if he thought that I would allow an idiot like him to beat me in a contest, he was an even bigger dope than I first assumed.

I narrowed my eyes and locked gazes with him. "Oh? You so sure about that? Okay then. It's on, Bandana Boy."

At first Luke blinked in surprise at my sudden change in demeanor, but then his mouth slowly formed into a grin. "Looks like maybe I'll finally have a worthy opponent. Bring it!"

The droopy man took on an exasperated expression. "We don't have all day. The game will start without you if you two keep that up."

Luke and I snapped to attention and rushed to the site of the contest, several yards away down the beach.

It was a simple game, really. Just see who skipped their stone the farthest and you have your winner.

But... I'll be honest; stone-skipping was not my forte. The last time I'd ever done something like this was when I was really little, more than ten years ago.

Luckily for me, though, it seemed Luke wasn't exactly an expert at it either. He was too impatient and kept getting frustrated easily. I wondered what he had meant by his "worthy opponent" comment earlier.

I came in third, while Luke was in fourth place. Kathy won, with Gill coming in second. Personally I was surprised to see the serious boy I had met earlier playing such a silly game on his own accord, but I was more concerned with the rankings. Technically, I had still beaten Luke. And I wanted to make sure he knew it.

"Ha! I placed higher than you. How about that?" I couldn't help but gloat.

Luke crossed his arms and made a sour face. "You still didn't _win_. You have to come in first for it to count."

I raised an eyebrow and opened my mouth to counter him hotly, but the sound of familiar chuckling nearby stopped me. I turned to see Bo walking towards us, looking very amused. "You two sound like kid siblings, the way you bicker. It seems you've gotten more used to each other."

I felt my face heat up, embarrassed by Bo's comment. I turned my head so Luke couldn't see my red cheeks. "Well, I was just about to say I'm going to head home now. There's nothing left to do, is there? Luke introduced me to pretty much everyone." When I received no reply, I started to walk back towards Waffle Town.

"No, wait!" Luke called frantically.

With a huff of a sigh I swung around to face him. "What is it?"

"At least stay for the fireworks," he pleaded, all signs of our spat only a minute ago gone.

"Hm..." I looked from him to Bo. "Only if Bo stays too."

"Oh, I was planning on staying anyways," he said quickly before Luke could interject. "Why else would I have come down here?"

"Good point," I said, giving in. "All right, I'll stay."

"Awesome!" Luke said, grinning. "I know you'll like it."

We spent the remainder of the afternoon talking and eating while waiting for the fireworks to start. The festival was much more enjoyable without people to meet and with Bo there. He seemed to have a subtle calming effect on our hot-blooded colleague. Maybe it was because they'd been friends for a long time.

I suddenly found myself musing in my head if I would ever have such an influence on Luke, much to my dismay. _Whoa there!_ I argued with myself. _I'm only gonna be here for a few years. And Luke is most certainly not my friend. I may have to put up with him every day, but it's because he's my coworker and nothing more._

"Audrey?" a voice broke into my thoughts. "Hey, man, you're really spacing out. We need to get in a good seat before they're all taken!"

I mentally shook myself, now focusing on Luke in front of me. I frowned. "For your information, I'm not a man, if you couldn't already tell."

He just laughed and led me down to where Bo was sitting, near the water's edge. A great place to view the fireworks, since you could see their reflection on the water as well as in the sky.

"Hopefully the tide doesn't come in," I muttered, probably reinforcing my status as a party-pooper in the boys' eyes. But they made no comment as I sat down in between them. Bo started to tell me about past fireworks shows and how they were a tradition here on the island.

Finally the anticipated event started. I will admit; the fireworks were pretty cool. Everyone seemed dazzled by them, and most people had large smiles on their faces when it came time to leave the beach. We never had such displays back in my home town. Really, we only ever had a flower festival and Thanksgiving back there, which were both a bit wimpy compared to this one festival alone. It sounded like they had a lot more festivals here, too. I could only imagine what those were like.

Amazingly, Luke didn't insist on walking me home. For once in his life he looked mildly tired, and bade Bo and I farewell with a giant yawn. The younger boy was kind enough to accompany me to the Caramel River District.

As we made our way up the sloped path, Bo spoke up. "I know Luke can be overwhelming at times, but maybe you should try and give him a chance. He's not as bad as you might think."

I blinked at him, caught off-guard. It was almost as though he had been reading my mind. Was my distaste of Luke that obvious? Suddenly I felt a little ashamed.

Bo said nothing more. He smiled, bowed, and then left as soon as we reached my house.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I was almost late for work, to my disbelief. I hadn't been thinking the night before; I shouldn't have stayed for the fireworks. Never stay up till two in the morning the night before you go to work at seven in the morning! Even a workaholic like me sometimes can't get their engines started after not enough sleep.

But of course, once I got to the carpenter's - it was times like these when I would've been _really_ thankful if that root blocking the path wasn't there - Luke was having no trouble with his sleep deprivation. In fact, he looked even _more_ excited than usual, if that was even possible. Bo, on the other hand, looked about as well-off as I was. He couldn't stop yawning.

"Hey Audrey, can you guess what day it is today?" Luke asked, beaming.

I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. When I opened them, Luke was still right in my face. My eyes narrowed at him. "The day you finally realize how obnoxious you are?"

As expected, he just laughed loudly. "Nah, it's my birthday!"

_How much you want to bet he didn't hear a single word of that insult?_ I thought dryly to no one in particular. Then Luke's words sank in. Oh great, his _birthday?_ I hoped he didn't expect me to...

"So, did you get me a present?"

Good thing I had a legitimate excuse. "No. How was I supposed to know your birthday was today? You never mentioned it yesterday."

"Oh, good point..." he agreed, disappointed. But his sunny expression was back in a flash. "Guess how old I am now!"

_Four?_ I wanted to say, but I'd already given him his insult for the hour. "Eighteen," I predicted, feeling pretty sure I was right.

Luke's eyes lit up in delight, telling me I was wrong. "Nope! I'm nineteen now. Woohoo!"

I kept quiet. If he found out I was only seventeen, he'd never let me forget it.

Of course, the next thing that popped out of his mouth was; "Your turn. How old are you?"

I could've lied and told him I was at least eighteen, maybe even nineteen, but I wasn't the kind of person to forsake the truth just to protect my pride. It still pained me, though, to admit I was almost two years younger than this immature dope. "Seventeen," I muttered, not looking at him.

"What?"

I grimaced and fumed on the inside on having to say it louder. "I'm seventeen!" I felt like I was being publicly humiliated, even though Dale and Bo were the only other people around, and they weren't paying attention.

"Oh wow, I thought you were at least eighteen for sure. Ha, so that means I'm older! That's funny! So when do you turn eighteen?"

"Um, Fall eleventh." Well, that was a better reaction than I had feared. I just had time to feel relieved when Bo came, telling me it was time to head outside.

In the forest clearing, my thoughts wandered to the fact that it was Luke's birthday. I kind of felt bad for not getting him a present, actually. He had taken out and bought me a lot of food yesterday - even if I hadn't asked for it. The least I could do to repay him was to get him a present. But I had to do it discreetly. I didn't want Bo thinking I'd gone soft on Luke.

Now the question was what to get him. I furiously wracked my brain for memories of Luke hinting at what he liked, or even straight out telling me. _Hm..._

Then I remembered. Bananas. One morning I heard him complaining that they were out of the yellow fruit, and then told me they were his favorite. But I couldn't get him just a plain bunch of bananas; that was lame.

So when lunch break came around I told everyone I was going to the Sundae Inn to eat. Of course, Luke jumped up. "Ooh! I'll come with!"

"No!" I said too quickly and too loud. "I mean, no, I kinda want to eat by myself. Plus, you should spend some time with your dad here; it is your birthday, after all..." _Crap, that didn't sound like me at all._ I winced internally as I felt Bo's questioning eyes on me.

But Luke's lacking comprehension skills came in handy for once. He accepted my weak excuse without question. "Oh, okay. Have fun!"

I was putting forth way too much effort for this.

I proceeded down the path to Waffle Town and entered the Sundae Inn. Luke had introduced me to the innkeeper, his wife, and their ditzy daughter, but I had already forgotten their names. I had also forgotten the old lady cook's and the orange-haired boy's names as well. Hopefully they didn't expect me to remember.

My prospects of avoiding embarrassment seemed to dwindle as practically all thee staff called out my name in welcome. How did they remember so well? All I had done the day before was say "hi" and then we moved on. My head spun with how well-connected this island was. Then again, I knew everyone's name in my hometown. Maybe it was because I was born there.

I ordered a small sandwich for lunch and bought some banana pudding - Luke's present - to go. I almost inhaled the sandwich in my rush to get out of there; I wasn't the only one who had come here for lunch break. My slight agoraphobia didn't agree with so many people. Being surrounded by people I didn't know made me nervous.

That might've been a problem for me when I moved to the city, however, I didn't realize it then. All I had on my mind was escaping from strangers who were too chatty for their own good.

All of that just for a birthday gift for a guy I could barely tolerate. How did I ever talk myself into that? _Oh well. Too late to call it quits..._

I managed to hide the present the rest of the day until closing time, when I planned to give it to Luke. I made sure that Bo and Dale were out of the room.

My face burning, I held out the plate of pudding towards Luke. I felt ridiculous. Pudding as a birthday present? How dumb could you get? But it was too late to take it back.

"Here, Luke. Happy birthday," I said miserably.

He stared at the pudding, then took it. "Wow, thanks! I thought you said you didn't have a birthday present for me, though."

"I got it when I went to the Inn for lunch," I admitted. "That's why I wouldn't let you come with me."

"Ohhh!" he said. He paused, looking thoughtful, and then a horribly sly grin spread across his face. "So what you're saying is that if you hadn't been going to get me a present, you would've let me come with you?"

My face turned even more red. I shoved him, furious at the implications of his question. "Go away!"

He stumbled but laughed good-naturedly, knowing I wasn't serious. That only made him get under my skin even more. I clenched my teeth together.

"The only reason I even got you the present was because you bought me stuff yesterday," I said indignantly. "I had to pay you back."

With that I stalked out the door, not catching Luke's, "Aw, but birthday presents don't count!"

_Drip... Drip... Drip..._

One of my eyes peeled open to stare into darkness, but I could still hear drops of water plinking onto the floor. I groaned. Perfect, my house had a leak in the roof.

I drug myself out of bed and made my way to the opposite wall of the room, where the light switch was located. I shielded my eyes from the harsh light until I blinked my grogginess away. A glance at the clock above my dresser told me it was four in the morning. I sighed._ Looks like I'm going to be early to work,_ I decided.

Then I looked around the room to locate the leaky culprit. "Oh, no..." I moaned as I spotted not just one, but four sources where rain was getting through the roof. There went my one day off relaxing on Saturday. Again. I could only be thankful none were over my bed.

Not having any buckets, I stomped over to the kitchen and grabbed some bowls. Those would have to do for then. Hopefully they wouldn't overflow while I was at work.

I prayed that the rain would let up for three days at least, so I wouldn't have to keep using my dishes to collect rainwater and I could have a dry day to repair the roof.

When I made it to work I was soaked and in a foul mood. The boys were concerned and asked me what was wrong. To keep it short, I answered simply with, "The rain." Not the whole story, but I was technically telling the truth.

Luckily Thursday and Friday were just cloudy, so I used my kitchenware for its intended use. On Friday I finally told Bo what had happened Wednesday morning.

"Audrey, if you had told us earlier we could have come over right away and fixed it!" Bo responded, sounding like he felt bad for me.

I shrugged uncomfortably. "It's all right. I'm going to fix it tomorrow." When Bo opened his mouth to speak again, I cut him off, knowing what he was going to offer. "Thanks, Bo, but I'll be all right on my own."

He didn't protest further, but he still looked unsatisfied.

Fixing my roof would be a tedious job on my own, but I refused to lean on others very much. It made me feel weak. Stubbornly pushing aside the thought of how nice it would be to have someone to talk to while I worked, I exited the building and headed back home.

Thankfully Saturday was sunny. I set to work early, right after I dressed. If I finished quickly enough, maybe I would have time to relax and enjoy my weekend later.

I brought out a ladder and some of my carpentry tools from the tool shed, which was really supposed to be a chicken coop.

The wooden ladder rattled against the side of my house as I set it up. Holding my tool kit at my side, I stared up at the roof. How on Earth was I going to carry my supplies up? I scowled fiercely at the ladder.

Behind me I suddenly heard footsteps. I turned to find none other than..._ Luke?_ I failed to hide the surprise on my face. "Luke? What are you doing here?"

He smiled and waved. "Good morning to you too! Beautiful day, huh?"

I just stared at him. "What are you doing here?" I repeated.

"To lend a hand in patching up your roof, what else?" he said, looking at me strangely.

"Wha- I never told you about that!"

Luke pulled an innocent face. "Everyone's allowed to walk through the main room."

"Oh, so you eavesdropped on Bo and me!" I accused, seething.

"Nuh-uh!" he protested. "I was _walking by,_ and I happened to _overhear_ what you guys were saying. It's not like I meant to listen in..."

I gave him my best death-glare. He ignored it, switching his golden gaze from my face to my hand holding the toolbox. Then he glanced at the ladder, seeming to piece together my predicament.

"You know," he began, unfastening his leather satchel that hung around his waist; "there's this great thing called a tool belt. It helps a lot with bringing equipment up ladders and stuff like that."

"I know that," I snapped. "Excuse me for not having any extra money to buy one."

Luke held the bag out to me. "Then here. Take this one."

I blinked at it, my snarky attitude dissolving. "Uh? You're giving me yours?"

"Duh," he said, smiling. "I can always go buy myself a new one."

Subdued, I took it. "Th-Thanks..." Why did he always do nice things for me? It made it hard to stay annoyed at him. It also made me feel like a jerk.

"All right, now that that's settled, let's fill it up with your tools and get to work on the roof!"

I was still in a daze from Luke's unexpected generosity, so I mutely followed his directions. I didn't notice it at first, but the tool bag had been empty when Luke gave it to me. Had he been intending to give it to me before he came?

The question bothered me as we set to work, two holes to patch up each, but I couldn't find the courage to ask him about it for some reason. Instead I finally choked out, "Why are you helping me with this? There's no benefit for you."

He cast me a sidelong glance. "Because I want to be your friend."

I shouldn't have said anything. This was a social recluse's worst nightmare when it came to awkward situations.

Feeling incredibly horrible about this whole thing, I didn't reply and focused even harder on patching up the roof. I almost wished there were more holes to work on. I was already near being done with the first one.

But alas, we were finished within another hour. We stood on the ground and looked up at the roof to admire our work, and then Luke turned to me and held up his hand. I looked at him in confusion.

"High-five!" he laughed. "For a job well-done."

Oh. I reluctantly slapped his gloved hand.

"That was pretty wimpy," he noted. "But you're getting there."

I wondered what he meant by that last statement, but he continued on before I could even think of inquiring.

"So I see the Mother Tree root is blocking your way to the Ganache Mine District," he said. "Was that why you asked about it when we first met?"

I was surprised he remembered that. I nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of a pain to have to take the long way to work everyday..."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Luke asked, sounding a bit like Bo had the other day. "I would've taken care of it a long time ago." He looked earnest.

"Oh, well..." I said, actually wondering why I hadn't told him. Then I remembered Bo's description of the Mother Tree. "But isn't it kind of important to the island?" I didn't want something bad happening because of my need of a shortcut to work. That would definitely get me disliked.

"You're not the only one pushing for it to be removed," Luke assured me. "Gill's been bugging Pops about it for some time now. But he keeps procrastinating."

"Still..."

"If the Goddess doesn't want her tree being hurt, then she shouldn't have let it grow over a path in the first place!"

He does have a point, I thought as I gazed up the curving pathway where the humongous root sat. I wasn't all that familiar with this island's goddess, but I knew you could get in some big trouble for messing with sacred stuff. No matter how much I thought Luke was annoying, I didn't want him getting hurt.

"Even so, maybe you shouldn't," I insisted.

"Bah, you're just like Bo," he said dismissively.

I sighed and frowned. "You don't have to do it for me. I'll survive having to take the long way to work. I've been doing it since I got here." I tried a different approach.

"But isn't that what friends are for? Helping each other out?" he said, surprising me again. I glanced down at this tool belt - _my_ tool belt - now hanging from my own waist. When I averted my gaze back to him, he was heading back down the path, the long way to the carpenter's.

He glanced back and waved at me. "See ya tomorrow, Audrey!" he called, leaving me to stare after him helplessly, feeling more guilty and confused than ever.

The next few days were rainy, of course, so I was stuck inside with Luke all day at work. Can you say "awkward"? It didn't help that I wore the tool belt every day. I had to keep reminding myself that I wore it just for practicality. The fact that it was the first gift I'd ever received from someone outside of my family had nothing to do with it.

Apparently Luke hadn't confided to Bo that he had given me the belt, because I could feel the younger boy's curious green gaze on me every time I took something out of it. He probably recognized it as his fellow apprentice's. It was starting to annoy me, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him it was a gift from Luke. I couldn't think of a legitimate excuse why, though.

On Tuesday, I was sanding some wood by the window when I happened to look up. When I saw what was looming outside, my stomach did a sickening flip. "Oh, no..."

Luke and Bo raised their heads from their own projects. "What is it, Audrey?" Bo asked, concerned. When I didn't answer and just continued to stare outside, both of the boys came over, crowding to see what I was so worked up about.

"Aw, jeez," Luke said. "I knew there was a big one due any time now. We've been lucky this Summer till now." Bo nodded silently in agreement.

I'd heard about Waffle Island's hurricanes, but I had forgotten about them until I saw the massive storm clouds hanging menacingly over us. The wind was also starting to pick up. Trees were already swaying, and when I listened closely I could hear it whistling by.

"Well." Dale's gruff voice sounded from behind me. Startled, I tried to hide my jump as I turned to face my boss. "Let's board up the windows and get into the back room."

Luke and Bo sprang up and got to work, but I stayed sitting. "What about me? I need to get home."

Dale raised his eyebrows. "Audrey, I can't let you go outside in this weather."

My eyes flashed indignantly. Was he trying to say I was too weak to handle a little storm? "I'll be fine!"

But Luke's father already knew me well enough from working with me for three weeks. "This isn't just a storm, Audrey; it's a _typhoon._ Anyone could get seriously hurt out there."

"And you're our friend, so we don't want you to get hurt," Bo added. He and Luke had temporarily paused in their work when they saw I wasn't helping.

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, desperately wanting to protest, but they were right. They'd never let me live it down if I did go outside and got myself crippled. Also, for my own sake, if I got myself hurt badly enough it might've slowed me down to the point where I'd have to stay on Waffle Island another year. No way that was happening.

"Fine," I sighed. "But what now?"

I was suddenly aware of Luke standing closer to me than he was before. A devious grin decorated his face. "Looks like you'll have to spend the night here, huh?"

I smacked him upside the head. "Pervert," I growled.

"Ow!" He rubbed his head. "I didn't mean it like _that_..."

Dale rolled his eyes at his son. "Anyways, I'm afraid Luke is right; you'll have to spend the night here." He waited for me to disagree, but I was thinking the same thing. There was really no other option if I couldn't go outside. "I'll arrange a sleeping mat in the back room," he said.

I sighed and looked through a section in the window that hadn't been boarded yet. The wind was more howling than whistling now. Leaves and pebbles and huge rain drops slapped against the glass. This would be the ultimate test for the patch-ups on my roof.

I snapped out of my daze and got up to help Bo and Luke with the windows.

At six we say down to eat dinner. It was a bit awkward, though better than that first day I had joined them for breakfast. I guessed Luke was making extra effort to remember his manners; several times he opened his mouth wide, probably to belch, but then slapped his hand over his mouth at the last second - only after Bo and Dale shot him alarmed looks, of course. I almost didn't want to imagine dinner at the carpenter's without a guest.

"So, Audrey," Dale spoke up. "For all your time working here, you haven't told us much about yourself."

_What's there to know?_ I wondered, dreading this. To my disappointment both Luke and Bo were nodding in agreement with Dale. "Uh..." I frowned. "What exactly do you want to hear?"

"How about your family?" Dale prompted.

Great. Touchy subject. But there was no way out of this that I could see. "Well," I reluctantly started, "my mom's name is Jennifer... She works as a receptionist for our town's clinic. And my brother's name is Shawn-"

"Whoa, you have a brother?" Luke cut in. Just like Shawn would have done to someone else. "How old is he?"

"I was getting there," I said, exasperated. "Shawn is seven years older than me, so that'd make him twenty... four. Actually, he just turned twenty-five. I'm not exactly sure what he's been up to; he travels from village to village a lot."

I'd meant to end it there, but of course, the inevitable, "Wait, who's your dad?" came. Surprisingly, the question came from Bo.

My mouth formed a tight, straight line. "His name was Dan. He died when I was six. Work accident."

All three of the guys' faces softened, but I looked down, not wanting their pity. There was a pause, and then, "Hey, uh..." Luke cleared his throat. "Anyone want seconds?"

I was grateful for the change of subject, but I remained silent throughout the rest of the meal. After I was done eating, I went back into the main room to finish sanding the project I had been working on earlier. I didn't know what else to do with myself.

"Yo," Luke announced his entrance into the room. I kept my attention on my work but grunted in acknowledgement. "Didn't Pops say we should all be in the back room?" A boom of thunder outside enforced his statement.

I sat back to admire my progress. "Yeah, I guess he did. But how is the back room any safer than out here?" I looked over at him.

Luke shrugged. "Smaller windows?" He strolled over to sit on the workbench next to my project, leaning over to examine it. I tried not to care how close he was. "Is this a chair?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I've been working on it for a few weeks now."

"It looks good," he said sincerely. "Maybe if you have it done soon, we can sell it at the flea market this weekend. Not like any of my designs are gonna get in."

I snorted. I'd seen some of Luke's attempts at designing furniture. He got carried away easily. Instead of making a snide comment on that, though, I shrugged in response to his first suggestion. "Maybe." I wasn't committing to anything; I wanted to make sure my furniture was the best quality possible, so I wasn't sure if I'd have it done by the end of the week.

"Anyways," Luke started again. "The real reason I came to talk to you is because I want you to know that I'm really sorry about your dad. I feel your pain."

I was about to accuse him of not knowing my pain at all, but then I realized right as he said it; "Really, I do. My mom's been gone for a long time too."

I averted my gaze to the ground, not saying anything. I was glad I hadn't snapped at him, and felt kind of bad that I had been about to in the first place.

"So, I also want you to know that I'm here for you."

My gaze flung up to his face in bewilderment. He was smiling. "If you're ever having any trouble, you can talk to me! That's what friends are for, right? Helping each other out." I noticed he repeated the lines he had spoken to me last weekend. And just like the first time he used them, my heart flooded with conflicting emotions.

_You're driving me crazy, Luke,_ were my thoughts, but I managed a "thank you" out loud instead.

That night I had to sleep in my day clothes, so I didn't bother to undo my braids. Kind of gross, I know, but it's not like I had planned on spending the night at work.

I lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling and listening to the wind and thunder outside. The noise wasn't the reason I couldn't go to sleep, though; it was Luke. He was infuriating, the way he kept first getting on my nerves 24/7 and then all of a sudden becoming so freaking _nice!_ I could barely stand it! He made me feel horrible about the way I treated him, and then right as I started to even consider thinking of him as a friend, he'd ruin it by letting one of his perverted or offending remarks slip out and set me off all over again.

But... That was just his personality, I realized. If I was ever serious about categorizing him as a friend in my mind, I wouldn't have let something minor like that throw me off so badly.

I considered my mother my friend. I got annoyed or even angry with her sometimes. Nobody gets along perfectly.

Was it sad that I was going through a complicated thought process to convince myself that Luke was more than just an acquaintance and simply a friend to me? I couldn't have been sure; I was new to this whole friend business. Though I hadn't given myself such a headache trying to decide if Bo was a friend.

Finally, I gave in. It was official in my mind now; Luke was my friend.

To my bewilderment I fell sound asleep almost immediately after I admitted it.

"Audrey! Wake up!" Someone was shouting.

I blearily opened my eyes to see a figure standing over me. _Bo...? What's he doing in my house?_

Then I came to my senses. The typhoon. Dinner. Luke. _Right._

I sat up at the sound of Bo's urgency. "What is it?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"It's Luke," he vaguely informed me. "Come on, follow me! Hurry!"

My heart lurched at how gravely Bo had spoken Luke's name. Half of me was focused on the question of whether he was hurt or not. The other half was busy freaking out over my reaction. That was a much more severe response than I had liked. The last time my heart had done that was when I was six years old.

Was I going to have that reaction every time I thought a friend was in potential danger? If so, maybe I should've reconsidered this whole thing. But I knew it didn't work like that. Too late to bail now.

I threw off the covers of the makeshift bed Dale had made for me and ran after Bo straight outside, not having to bother with getting changed.

The sun had already risen a ways above the horizon, making me wonder how long they had let me sleep in. There was hardly a cloud in the sea blue sky. If you didn't pay attention to the fallen branches scattered all around, you couldn't have guessed there had been a big storm just the night before.

Bo led me not to Praline Forest, but the other direction, towards the blocked pathway. As we got closer, my fears were pacified as I heard Dale and Luke's voices. Luke didn't sound in pain at all from what I could tell, so if he was hurt, it wasn't very bad.

_Jeez, Bo, you nearly gave me a heart attack,_ I was about to say, but then bit back the words. That sounded like I cared for Luke a little too much.

When the father-son pair came into view, I took in the scene. Luke stood facing his father with his axe slung across his shoulder, a defiant expression on his face. Dale, in turn, had a very stern expression - even more stern than usual, that is. He was irritated, if not a little angry. He had his hands on his hips, then gestured with one at the Mother Tree root. I started to get an idea what was happening before my boss spoke; "You can't just chop a chunk of the Mother Tree off!"

"Who says I can't?" Luke retorted.

"I do, and I'm your father!"

"Well, I'm nineteen! I'm an adult! So I don't have to do what you say!"

"But you live in _my_ house, under _my_ rules."

"This isn't in your house now, is it?"

I watched them banter back and forth with raised eyebrows. I could tell where Luke had gotten his stubbornness from. At my side, Bo leaned over and whispered, "They've been doing this for about an hour now..."

_That's just ridiculous!_ I thought incredulously. "Hey!" I called over to the feuding boys, attempting to distract them.

They both glanced over at me, then my spirits sank as Luke got a triumphant smile on his face. "See, look, Audrey wants the root removed like Gill does! Don't you want a shortcut to work?" He shouted the last part to me.

My hand found my face. I had just made things worse.

Apparently it was a rhetorical question, because Luke went right on back to arguing Dale without waiting for a reply. I turned to Bo, searching for advice. He shrugged helplessly. "If I could stop it, I would have already."

As I stood there wracking my brain for ideas on how to solve their quarrel, Luke suddenly said very loudly, "You know what? I'm not fighting anymore!"

I turned just in time to see him swing his axe at the root with all his strength. Even I was genuinely surprised when the giant thing fell apart with a single stroke.

Dale, Bo, and I stared at the cleared pathway in shocked silence as Luke began insensitively boasting. "Ha, did you see that? One hit! How awesome am I or what?"

"B-But... the Harvest Goddess..." Bo sputtered in disbelief.

"If the Harvest Goddess is really mad about it, she can come and spank me!" Luke proclaimed confidently.

_Nice way of putting it..._ I thought, exasperated, as I broke out of the daze.

Dale's eyes were alight with fury. He didn't say anything as he stormed away, back to the shop.

Bo sighed. "Well, there's nothing to be done now... On the bright side, looks like you have a shortcut, Audrey."

Oh great, that was right. This whole situation was partly my fault. I grimaced.

"Exactly right, Bo!" Luke said proudly. "All right, let's get to actual work now." He strode back to the building. Bo started to follow, but I hung back a little. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be around Dale right then. He looked _really_ ticked off.

Bo noticed my reluctance. The freckled boy glanced back at me with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Dale won't stay mad for long," he said, guessing at what I was thinking. I stiffened, embarrassed by my hesitance and be consoled by someone younger than me. I walked faster.

He was right. Inside, Dale's anger seemed to have dissipated into bitter disappointment in Luke. He looked plain sad. That tree must have meant a lot to him. I felt bad.

His son, though, was oblivious to his sorrow. I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't just revoke his status as my friend anytime I wanted. But I was still annoyed.

And yet... he had done that almost solely for my wellbeing. There was no way he couldn't have known his father would get angry, and he still cut the root. I didn't know whether to admire him for that or just think he was even more of an idiot than I first thought.

In the end, I found myself more happy with him than criticizing.

Much as I hated to admit it, having a shortcut to work was pretty nice... Okay, it was _really_ nice. I got to sleep in an extra half-hour. Not that I was used to it right away, of course. It took me a couple days to readjust my internal clock.

The upcoming weekend was a long one, since that Sunday was a flea market day. I had finished that chair in time, so it was going up for sale there. I chose not to monitor the stall, but I was anxious to know how the chair would do. I hoped people would like it. I had designed the patterns on it to resemble what I thought Waffle Island represented as a whole; unity and peace. There was no crime, and everybody got along and knew each other personally. In my own hometown people knew each other by name, but it was nothing like here. The kindness there was reserved, while on Waffle Island it was open and flowing. And there was no way you could ever find something like that in the city.

I had to say, Waffle Island was slowly but steadily growing on me. Maybe in the future I would come back for a vacation or something.

Anyways, I finally had the weekend to myself for the first time since I had arrived. Luke did not interfere, miraculously. Unfortunately, he still plagued my thoughts. Okay, "plagued" is a bit strong. He _frequently visited_ my thoughts.

On Monday I returned to work, eager to hear how my chair had done. Dale, with a large smile that was visible even underneath his bushy mustache, informed me it was a big hit. Several customers had wanted it, and in the end the mayor bought it for several hundred G higher than the original price. Even better; the extra money was going straight to my paycheck.

For the first time since I had come to Waffle Island, a happy grin found its way onto my face. People liked my work.

To the side, I caught Luke staring at me with a strange expression. But the moment he saw me looking back at him, he went straight-faced. I did as well.

For my sanity's sake, I told myself he was looking at me in amazement.

After a couple of seconds, he suddenly briskly turned around. I frowned. That wasn't like him.

Bo came over and clapped me on the back. "Great job, Audrey!" he said. "Your skills are really something."

I smiled in thanks and we proceeded outside. When we got to the clearing, I turned around to choose a tree, but instead I saw Luke at the fence. I raised an eyebrow. "Luke? It's not your shift for another two hours."

He was staring at me again, this time with a thoughtful expression on his face. Finally he spoke, pointing his axe at me. "You and me, right now!"

When Bo and I just stared back in confusion, Luke sighed impatiently. "We never settled our score! Our last competition was the stone-skipping contest, remember, and it was a tie. We need to clear this up!"

_Ohhh._ Well. For once he and I completely agreed about something. I forgot the trivial fact that he wasn't supposed to be here as my competitive spirit flared up. "You're right," I said. "So, any ideas?"

Bo looked like he was going to protest, but Luke and me weren't paying any attention. He realized it was useless and shut his mouth.

Luke grinned challengingly. "Yeah; whoever collects twenty pieces of lumber first wins!"

I quickly did some calculations. Every tree, provided it was tall enough, produced around four or five pieces of standard-sized lumber. So I'd only have to cut down four or five trees to get twenty pieces. Piece of cake.

"The lumber can also be from anywhere on the island," Luke continued. "And we can't be within sight of each other when cutting."

It was tempting to protest that rule, but I saw his point; if we both cut down trees in the clearing, then there'd be none left for actual work. No matter, though, There was a small patch of land right on my property with a few trees that I had been meaning to clear.

Then, of course, there was the obvious worry; would Luke cheat while no one was looking? But that was ruled out as far as I was concerned. If he did cheat, he knew fully well I'd kick his butt from here to next week. That was reason enough not to, but also... I just somehow knew he wasn't the kind to stoop low like that. He could be trusted when it came to competitions.

"Bo will referee," I stated. "He'll make sure the pieces of lumber are exactly the right size. If he says it doesn't make it, no arguing. His word is law."

Bo raised his eyebrows. "You're taking this very seriously, aren't you? Um, I guess I'll do it."

"No one asked you if you didn't want to," both Luke and I said at the same time. We looked back at each other, fire in our eyes.

Our poor younger friend looked almost scared. He nervously adjusted the white bandana that was tied around his forehead.

"Let's begin at the entrance to the mine, to make it fair," I decided. I knew Luke was going for the clearing, and it wouldn't be fair if he got a head-start while I ran back to my place.

Luke nodded, and we started towards the Ganache Mine entrance. Bo walked between us, probably trying to calm some of the tension. He looked uneasy.

Once we were there, we stood equal distance apart from the other end of the district. Bo counted down. "On your mark... Get set... Go!"

I didn't waste any time trying to see what Luke was doing; I sprinted for the shortcut to my house. Suddenly I was very grateful the root was out of the way.

_Ha!_ I thought as I raced past the spot we stood just a few days ago, when Luke cut the root. _His nice deed for me might end up being his undoing!_

I skidded to a halt when I reached the field to the side of my house. Five good-sized pine trees stood in my wake. Taking out my axe, I took a deep breath to control my breathing. I wouldn't get anywhere if I was panting even before I began. Carefully, I took aim at the perfect spot on the first tree and started chopping.

Back in the clearing, Luke let out a shout as he swiped at a tree. Bo stood a ways behind him, silently shaking his head. _He'll never get done fast enough by hitting the tree in random places like that... What happened to all the training he's gone through? It all seems to have disappeared._

Suddenly the younger boy heard his boss' voice coming from down the path. "Luke!" Dale bellowed. "Where is that boy?"

Bo ran to meet the large man at the entrance to the forest. "Hey, Boss," he greeted him. "Sorry about Luke. He and Audrey are doing a contest." He explained it as best as he could.

"Huh. I wouldn't have expected Audrey, with that sensible mind of hers, to get caught up in one of Luke's schemes. She has to know it isn't exactly professional to just abandon work to go and play a game."

Bo's green eyes went wide. "You aren't going to fire her, are you?" He sounded horrified.

Dale had to laugh. "No, no! Don't worry, no need to sound like I was about to murder her. Since we're not exactly a large business, I can afford to be pretty lenient about stuff like this. But it sounds like she has some big goals, and she has to learn that things like this aren't tolerated up the ladder."

"You haven't seen her when she's feeling competitive," Bo replied, wonder in his voice. I seemed _insane_ compared to my normal self whenever Luke challenged me. My usually impassive brown eyes would go alight with excitement. He wondered what got me so riled up when it came to such things.

The sun was high in the sky and starting to dip down towards the west when I finally finished. Feeling triumphant even though I had no idea whether I'd won or not, I bundled up my lumber and jogged back to Bo in the clearing.

"I'm done!" I shouted before I could even see him, just to be safe. But when I reached him, I realized I shouldn't have worried. Luke was still attempting to cut down a tree. When I looked beside him, I saw three piles of wood. He was on his last tree or so.

Either way, I had won. Nobody seemed to remember the measuring aspect of the contest as I grinned for the second time that day. "Yeah! I won!" I shoved my fist in the air.

Luke turned around, blinking at my shouting. Dale and Bo stood to one side, also looking surprised at my outburst. I was too happy to wonder why the boss was there.

I tried to calm down, but I felt exhilarated by my victory. Not only did I beat Luke; I beat a boy who had been training in this sort of thing half his life. I just _had_ to rub it in. "I beat you! Who's the 'star apprentice' now?"

To my own surprise, Luke didn't take offense at my gloating. "So, I got beaten by a girl, huh?" he mused thoughtfully. He paused. "Actually, that's kinda cool. Congratulations, Audrey. You beat me." He gave a smile smaller than his usual energetic grin.

Bo and Dale were too stunned to say anything. Whether they were amazed at me showing excitement or Luke accepting defeat so easily, I couldn't tell.

Finally we all headed back to the shop. Dale and Bo regained their voices and gave me comments like, "Wow, I've never seen you so enthusiastic before," and "That was pretty serious for you, huh?" But I had cooled down considerably. I spent the rest of the work day carving another piece of furniture, silently celebrating my achievement.

Right before closing time, Luke came over and sat on the workbench, like he had the night of the typhoon. I glanced up at him questioningly when he didn't say anything right away.

He had that odd look on his face, identical to the expression he wore earlier that morning, when I was smiling about the news of my chair doing well at the Flea Market. It was beginning to unsettle me.

Just as I was about to snap, "What?" he finally spoke; "You know, Audrey, you have a really great smile. You should show it more often." Without another word he left, a smile of his own on his face.

I stared blankly ahead at the empty spot where he had just sat, heat rising to my cheeks. Nobody had ever complemented me like that before. It felt... nice.

Although, on the other hand, that was weird. A little too weird.

Then a horrible possibility occurred to me. What if Luke had lost the contest on purpose, just to see me smile again? What if my victory was just an illusion? The thought enraged me. How dare he go easy on me?

But then I thought of the true meaning behind my theory. If he had in fact lost for the sole purpose of seeing me smile, that would imply... Oh, no. That was way too far-fetched. I mean, come on, we'd only known each other for a little over four weeks. Plus, I didn't think Luke would give up his pride for something so silly. He already got to see me smile earlier that day. Knowing him, if he had really wanted to see me do it again, he would have asked directly. He wasn't capable of cooking up such a complex plan.

Having firmly reassured myself, I cleaned up my workspace and headed home.

I ignored the small voice at the back of my mind whispering, _Or did he?_

A few weeks passed without much new happening. I stopped torturing myself with the question of whether Luke had lost on purpose or not since, thankfully, I saw no more of the odd expression he had worn that day. But his words about my smile still resonated through my mind at times, and I found myself maybe a bit more open with my friends at the carpenter's shop. A tentative smile found its way to my mouth once or twice during conversations. Sometimes, though, Luke would drive it away by loudly pointing it out. Way to ruin it.

My birthday was fast approaching. Fall eleventh. A Wednesday. I had been born smack-dab in the middle of the week; a normal workday. I liked to think the fact said something about me.

I didn't say anything about it to my coworkers, though. I didn't want them going through the trouble to do anything for me, just to ultimately embarrass me.

But of course, that was too much to hope for.

On Wednesday morning I was awoken by a sharp rapping on my door. I winced and groaned, not even remembering what day it was. "Coming," I muttered, just loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear. I wondered who it could possibly be. Maybe Mayor Hamilton, come to tell me of the Art Festival which was taking place the next day?

I slid on my warmer outfit for Fall and Winter - a red sweater with darker blue jeans - and finally answered the door.

I should've expected Luke. I really should have.

The bright sunlight temporarily blinded me - how late had I slept in? - but as my eyes adjusted I made out Luke's shape. He was wearing his cold-weather outfit as well; a blue flaming bandana with a black and green jacket. He was grinning, as always.

My eyes widened and I blushed. I hadn't even braided my hair! It fell down my back in thick, wavy locks of green,

"Hey, Sunshine!" he greeted, not taking notice of my hair.

The nickname did _not_ help. My face surely matched my sweater by then. So I quickly carried out the easiest solution I could think of; I slammed the door in his face.

I rushed over to my dresser, desperately attempting to braid my hair as quickly as possible. I wasn't sure why I wasn't okay with him seeing me without it plaited, but it was important to me for some reason. And why had he startled me so badly? I felt color come to my face again as I recalled what he had hailed me by. _"Sunshine"?_ What was that supposed to mean?

"Wait- Audrey! I'm sorry! I take back the nickname!" Luke was calling from outside. "Is that why you shut the door? Come on, open it again, please?"

To my bewilderment, I felt a giggle rise in my chest. I cut it off immediately. What was wrong with me?

I knew he wouldn't leave until I opened the door again, so I didn't bother saying anything until I was done with my hair. I tightened the last bow into place and then strode towards the front door again, confident I wouldn't slip up this time. Frankly, I was surprised Luke hadn't just opened the door himself, like he had a season ago when he wanted to take me to the Ocean Festival. Wow, that had already been a season ago?

My friend looked relieved when I reappeared. "Okay, no more calling you Sunshine. Sorry."

I was a little surprised he wasn't embarrassed by nicknaming me like that, so suddenly too. I savagely beat down the urge to say, "No, it's okay, that's not the reason I slammed the door." _Idiot! That'd be giving him permission to call me that ridiculous name! Does he think we're-_ I stopped myself before I could continue. I'd be even more of a wreck than I already was if I let myself go through with _that_ kind of thinking.

"So, uh," we both started at the same time. I blushed. Then inwardly slapped myself. Seriously? What was my problem?

But Luke had a pink stain to his cheeks as well. I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse.

"You go ahead," I said, sounding rushed so we wouldn't accidentally speak at the same moment again.

He chuckled, grinning goofily. "If you insist. Well, you remember it's your birthday, right?"

_Oh._ No, I hadn't remembered. Obviously. And yet he did...

My blank stare answered his question. That got a laugh out of him. "Of course you forgot; I should've guessed!"

I felt a little defensive. What was that supposed to mean? Before I could retort he continued, though. "Anyways, it _is_ your birthday, and I doubt anyone else got you anything, so I thought I might get you a little something..." He pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to me. Was it my imagination or was he blushing even more now?

Curious, I pulled off the ribbon and opened it. Inside was a necklace, the one charm on it a beautiful reddish-purple stone. It had a gold chain. My eyes widened.

"I was mining with Owen last week and found some stones," he began explaining. "When Mira refined them, she showed me I got lucky and there was a chunk of garnet in one of them. She asked if I wanted to make a piece of jewelry out of it, and, I dunno... I just thought that you might like it." He shrugged, scuffling the ground with his feet with his hands in his pockets. Instead of his usual grin he wore a sheepish smile, and his eyes didn't meet mine.

After a pause I realized he was waiting for me to say something. I cleared my throat. "I-It's really pretty..." was all I could manage. Truth was, I had never received anything so nice before, not even from my family. Money had never flown freely since my father died.

I removed the pendant from the box and attempted to put it on, but my hands were gloved and weren't made for handling small clasps on jewelry.

A half smile came to Luke's mouth as he saw me struggling with it. "Here, let me help," he said, and before I could protest he walked behind me and took the necklace, brushing his hands against mine. Thankfully he was at my back and couldn't see my face. I stood rigidly until he finished. He then came back in front of me. "It looks great on you," he told me. "Really brings out your eyes. Well, come on, we should probably be getting to work."

_It brings out my eyes? But I have brown eyes, not red-purple..._ I followed Luke up the path, silently fiddling with the necklace. I couldn't believe he'd gotten me something so special.

Suddenly I thought back to his birthday. I had gotten him _pudding._ Guilt washed over me, what for I wasn't sure. Shouldn't it have been regret?

I stopped walking. "Hey, Luke," I said quietly. He turned around, blinking questioningly. "Thank you."

"Ah, it was no problem!" he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Nobody's ever given me something so nice before... How much did this cost you, anyway?"

He hesitated. "Now, now, it's not very polite to ask how much money a gift was!"

Oh great. It must have been really expensive.

"Hey, are you feeling bad because you didn't get me something worth a lot of money for my birthday?" His eyes narrowed sternly.

I looked away.

"Don't be like that! It's the thought that counts. Money doesn't matter," he tried to persuade me. "Besides, it was _really_ good pudding, I'll have you know."

The corner of my mouth quirked upwards, but I still didn't look at him, ashamed.

_"There's_ that smile. Cheer up, Audrey, it's your birthday!" Luke sounded as though he was coaxing a small child into doing something. That should have bothered me, but for some reason no familiar rise of annoyance occurred. Finally I sighed and met his yellow gaze.

"Come on, you and I both know _pudding_ is a really lousy present," I insisted with a half-smile.

"Okay, it wasn't exactly first on the things I would've put on a list, but it _was_ really yummy."

I laughed, and we continued walking. I was surprised - if not a little glad - that Luke didn't point out that it was the first time I had laughed since I came to Waffle Island. But I did notice his smile seemed a bit bigger.

When we got to the shop, it was nearly nine. I was appalled I had slept in so late, and at first Bo and Dale were a little taken aback as well.

"Give her a break, guys," Luke said. "It's her birthday!"

_That_ only sent Bo on another rant about how I never told him anything. "Audrey," he complained. "The only thing you're accomplishing is making me feel bad!"

"Relax!" I assured him. "I don't _want_ any gifts. It's really okay."

His tirade stopped, but he still didn't look happy.

Then Dale spoke up. "Well, Audrey, I was actually thinking of this before I knew it was your birthday today, so I may as well give it to you now."

I tilted my head inquisitively. Dale leaned down behind the counter and held up what could only be an axe, though it was covered in cloth. I walked up to the counter to see why it was for me.

"Here," he said, handing it to me. "You've earned it."

I pulled the cloth off to reveal... yes, an axe, but not just any axe. A copper axe. I stared at it in surprise. It wasn't cheap to upgrade tools.

"It's a lot lighter than what you're used to," he informed me. "But it's also quite stronger. You'll be able to fell trees a lot quicker with that." He smiled. "And technically, it's not a birthday present. I was going to give it to you soon anyways, birthday or not. If that makes you feel any better."

"Wow, thanks," I said sincerely, giving it a few test swings. Maybe not the smartest thing to do indoors, but I didn't break anything or hurt anyone.

"Why don't you go outside and practice with it?" Dale suggested with a chuckle. I smiled sheepishly and scurried to the clearing with Bo.

After I had left, Luke took a few minutes to get to work - after staring at the doorway for a little while. Dale watched his son closely from his station at the counter, not letting his emotions show. He did let out a quiet sigh, though. _Ah, Luke,_ he thought. _If you're going to pursue her, there's going to be trouble down the road. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into._


	3. Chapter 3

_"Achoo!"_ I sneezed.

"Bless you," Bo said politely.

I was about to thank him when two more sneezes were unintentionally let loose from me. I sniffed, resisting the urge to wipe my nose. I glanced over to see Luke hunched over, turned away from me. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Was he snickering? "What's so funny?" I called over to him irritably, knowing he was laughing at me.

He immediately straightened and waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing, nothing." I could tell he was fighting off a smile.

I frowned. "What?"

"Nothing!" he repeated, trying to smother another round of snickers by covering his mouth with his hand.

Reaching the end of my patience, I marched over to him. "_What_ are you laughing about?" I demanded.

He seemed to shrink away from my intense glare. "You'd only get more mad if I told you," he squeaked. When I didn't reply and my glare didn't soften, he finally gave in. "Well... It's just that... you have adorable sneezes." He started laughing again.

My face turned beet-red. Ugh, I should've listened to him when he said I'd only be more angry. Humiliated, I turned and stalked away without another word. Unfortunately, Bo couldn't help a chuckle either.

"Oh, not you too," I snapped, cheeks still burning.

"Aw, don't be so prickly," he said light-heartedly. "Is having a high-pitched sneeze such a bad thing?"

_When everybody laughs at it, yes,_ I thought miserably. I was about to say it out loud, but then another sneeze came. Luke started cracking up again, right as he had begun to calm down.

I rubbed my temples, squeezing my eyes shut. It was going to be a long day.

Turned out, by the end of the day my girly sneezes were the least of my worries. After we had returned inside, my nose turned into a faucet. It was disgusting; I used up half a box of tissues. I was almost to the point of just shoving two wads of it up my nostrils, but then decided I'd look like a moron and wasn't quite so fed up as to stoop to Luke's level. Face it, he'd totally do that if he was the one with the runny nose.

"Well," I said, pausing to blow my nose for the millionth time; "seems as though I'm sick."

All three of the guys nodded. As if the trash can full of crumpled cloth hadn't proved that already.

"How about you stay home, Audrey? If you're not better by Sunday, that is." Bo sounded hesitant.

I sighed and nodded. "I was about to say that myself..."

He looked relieved. I guessed that he had been expecting me to protest against the idea, and he was glad he didn't need to convince me. I wasn't an idiot; I knew my limits when it came to my health.

"Do you need me to pick up some medicine for you?" Luke asked, almost hopefully.

I shook my head. "I can do it myself."

"If you say so."

I was mildly surprised he didn't insist. I coughed. Whether it was from my sickness or to break the slightly awkward silence that ensued I couldn't honestly say. "Well... See ya."

"Get better soon!" Luke and Bo called after me. I sighed as I closed the door behind me. _Two days after I turn eighteen, and I catch a cold,_ I thought glumly. _Thanks for the birthday gift, Mother Nature. You shouldn't have._ The day before we had had off; it was the Art Festival. Of course, I didn't go. My fear of crowds was still there despite my getting used to having friends.

That night was miserable. I only caught about three hours of sleep. The rest of my time was spent using tissues, getting water for my sore throat, coughing, and glaring at the ceiling. I was glad the next day was Saturday; my day off anyways, but I cursed myself for what a dolt I was for not getting medicine right after work. I'd have to go as soon as I could, because I was starting to get a headache on top of everything else.

At five-thirty in the morning I decided there was no sense in trying to sleep anymore, so I got up and dressed. I did my hair as slowly as I could, staring at myself in the mirror. Dark circles under my brown eyes made me seem pale, and I frowned at my reflection without registering it at first. Was this, minus the dark circles, how I appeared to everyone? A constant frown on my face? I never realized how unfriendly I must have looked. Although, my actual personality wasn't too far-fetched from my appearance, I reflected gloomily.

I made myself some breakfast and ate it sluggishly. I don't even remember what I was thinking; probably complaining to myself of my condition.

Finally it was almost eight o'clock. I could finally go to the doctor's office and get some relief! The thought energized me and I set off at a brisk pace to Waffle Town. I hadn't been downtown for a while, note since I had last stopped at the general store at the beginning of the season.

I passed a couple of people I vaguely recognized from my Ocean Festival experience and waved wearily to them. They didn't stop for a chat as they normally would have, though. I supposed my slightly haggard appearance sort of warded them off. Fine by me; I wasn't exactly in the mood for small talk. I was pretty sure I had lost my voice, as well.

It felt like it took forever to reach Meringue Clinic, but I made it. I opened the door, expecting a quick exchange with the nurse and then to leave, but... there was no one there.

"Hello...?" I tried to call, but, as I had suspected, my voice came out half-hearted and gravelly. Unless they were close, nobody could hear me. I sighed uncomfortably and wondered what I should do. After a few moment of waiting, I started walking around, looking for any signs of someone. The back room was where the doctor and his grandmother had their living quarters, so I didn't go in there.

Maybe they had another patient. I hated to intrude, but if it wasn't an emergency, then would it be so bad if they just left for a second to retrieve a bottle of medicine? I decided to try upstairs. I tread carefully so if someone was asleep I wouldn't disturb them.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I heard voices. Quietly, I walked forward. I couldn't explain why I was being careful anymore. As I got closer to the back of the room, the voices became clearer.

"How does it feel to have the tables turned? Now you're the one who's sick." A soft, chuckling female voice. I only remembered who it belonged to when I saw a glimpse of dark brown hair from where I stood behind the curtain; Anissa, the droopy farmer Craig's daughter.

A small cough sounded. It could only belong to the doctor, Jin. "Well, I can't say I love the medicine..."

Anissa laughed again.

"Either way, thank you for taking care of me," he continued. I could hear the smile in his voice. "This is very thoughtful of you."

"Oh, it's my pleasure. I enjoy taking care of others." I could imagine her blushing. There was a moment of silence, then she spoke again. "Well, I suppose I had better get some more herbs really quick. I'll be right back."

I caught my breath in terror. What would she do if she caught me snooping?

"Wait." Jin rescued me by protesting. "I want you to... stay by my side."

Anissa paused, obviously puzzled. "I'll be right back," she repeated.

"No, I mean... Stay with me, forever."

I didn't hear anything either of them said after that. My face burned red with guilt and embarrassment that I had been eavesdropping on such a personal moment between two complete strangers, but also with something I couldn't quite put my finger on... _Longing?_ An image of Luke flashed through my mind, to my horror.

_Oh, no no!_ I shook my head vigorously, my braids slapping my sides. Now I was blushing at my own thoughts. _You can wait a bit! For a nice, _sensible_ man, no less._

I retreated back downstairs, hoping neither of the couple had noticed me, though I was still wrapped up in my disturbing thoughts. I sat down on a bench in the main room and tried to sort out my feelings.

"Oh my." A voice suddenly interrupted me in my mulling. "I'm sorry, have I kept you waiting?"

Slightly startled, I glanced up to see the old woman who worked as a nurse here walk out of the back room; Jin's grandmother, if I remembered correctly. But I couldn't recall her name for the life of me.

"Audrey, isn't it?" she checked, making me feel even more ashamed that I couldn't think of her name. I nodded, but when she got a good look at my face her eyes widened in alarm. "My dear, your face is flushed! Do you have a fever?"

"No!" I croaked, too quickly. "No, I don't think so. It's just a cold." I coughed into my arm.

The nurse didn't look convinced. "Let me take your temperature, just in case."

I sighed but didn't argue. I wasn't feeling the most spirited, especially after witnessing the mushy scene that had taken place upstairs. The old lady put a glass tube in my mouth, then after a minute or so removed it, squinting at the reading. "Well, you were right. Not a fever after all. But I assume you want some cold medicine?"

"Yes, please," I whispered. Talking in a normal voice made my throat hurt even more.

As she searched her cabinets for my medicine, she tried to make small talk with me. "I'm sorry Dr. Jin can't see you; he's actually sick as well."

"Oh, really?" I managed, trying to act surprised. It just made me feel more guilty. "That's ironic..."

She smiled. "But he has that sweet girl Anissa taking care of him. He'll be better in no time." She set a package down on the counter. I rose up out of my seat to claim it. The nurse proceeded to instruct me on when and how to take the medicine, then wished me luck in getting well quick, and then I was finally headed home.

Once I was safely within the confines of my tiny home, I took a dose of the medicine and promptly buried my face in my hands as I sat at the table. If anyone came in, I could easily tell them it was because I had a headache. But that would have been a lie; the medicine was efficient and was already making me feel significantly better.

I could only with it would work the same emotionally.

Sighing, I removed a hand from my cheek and gently took the garnet charm on my necklace between two fingers, stroking the smooth surface of the gem with my thumb. _Luke might be in love with me._

The thought had crossed my mind before, just not in such a blunt statement. I closed my eyes, pained. There was no certain way to tell unless he said it to my face, of course. But I had a feeling, despite my lack of experience in such things.

_Luke might be in love with me._ The concept repeated itself in my mind, so many times it didn't sound like a sentence anymore and more like incoherent gibberish.

What was so bad about this revelation, are you wondering? The answer was simple; I'd have to break his heart.

My hand holding the necklace clutched around it at the mere idea. I didn't want to hurt Luke; I really didn't. But if he was, in fact, in love with me, it changed nothing. I was still going to move on in three years. It just might be... a little more painful than I had anticipated, unfortunately.

All my hard thinking on top of being ill was beginning to wear me out. With a ginormous yawn, my arms folded on the table and my head sank down onto them. I was too tired to get up and climb into my bed.

Right before I drifted off, one more thought whispered in the back of my mind; _Or should it be... "_I _might be in love with_ Luke_"?_

I was too exhausted to be angry or shocked, let alone argue, with myself.

I woke up at around three pm from my fitful nap, and after taking some more medicine I decided to stay awake.

Seeing no point in keeping my hair up - it wasn't like anyone was going to see me - I undid my braids, looking at myself in the mirror again as I had that morning. As I combed my fingers through the last twist, I noticed how different I looked with untampered hair. It cascaded down my back in a mint-green waterfall, making me look older and more sophisticated even in my cherry-print pajamas; almost like a different person altogether.

Mature? Sophisticated? Sounded right up my alley. But I was mildly bemused as I found my feelings rejecting the look. I think I knew why, though. The braids reminded me of when I was younger; when my father was still alive. He would do my hair in that same style every day. They reminded me of days when I thought nothing of my future. When I was carefree.

And lately, they were starting to remind me of Luke.

I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my forehead. _Stop it,_ I scolded myself. _Do you want the road ahead to be even more painful than it already will be?_

Telling myself I couldn't believe what an idiot I was being, I set to fixing myself a small snack. I was pretty hungry.

Unfortunately, eating didn't waste very much time. I realized I had next to nothing to do. Even though I was sick, I wasn't tired anymore - at least, not for the moment. What else was there to do when you're sick besides sleep? I tried to remember back to the days of when I had to stay home from school with a cold or fever. My mom was there to take care of me, and we'd talk or I'd read a book. I had no books.

I glanced around and the small TV sitting against one wall caught my eye. The idea of just laying around and watching television all day didn't appeal to me, but like I said; what else was there to do?

With a sigh I pulled up a chair and set myself up with a blanket, a box of tissues at my side, and a cup of tea. I switched on the TV.

I passed the time by watching the news for a while, then the variety channel. The cooking show, hosted by that girl Maya, was on. It occurred to me that I had heard she wasn't very good when it came to the culinary arts, but I didn't dwell on it too much as my mind began to wander.

After a while I glanced at the clock. It was five-thirty already, I noted with raised eyebrows. TV sure was a time-waster. No wonder they say it rots your brain; I couldn't say I actually learned anything useful in the whole two hours I spent in front of the screen. Oh well. At least it passed the time until dinner.

I got up to prepare myself another cup of tea, along with my evening meal and another dose of medicine. I wasn't too hungry, so I just made myself a bowl of miso soup with some rice on the side.

I was just scooping the last bite of rice into my mouth when there was a knock on the door. Blinking, I turned my head to stare at the entrance to my house, wondering if it had been my imagination. Nobody should be visiting; not even Luke. I could be asleep for all he knew.

But I knew better. Of course it was him. Nowadays I couldn't expect anything else, really.

"Audrey!" Sure enough, it was his voice yelling through the front wall of my house. "Come on, it's us, Luke and Bo! Let us in!"

_Bo's with him?_ Now I was curious. Since a sensible person had accompanied Luke, I had less reason to be suspicious. Don't ask me what I was suspicious _of._ It was Luke. What more of a reason could you want?

I had barely any time to stand up when Luke's impatience got the better of him. "We're coming in," he warned over Bo's protest before the door opened. Of course, I had forgotten to lock it. I sighed and plopped back down into my chair, seemingly in exasperation. Really, I didn't feel it was worth the exertion to walk ten feet to where the two boys were standing. You knew I was sick when I was feeling too lazy to cross a small room.

"I could've been asleep, you know," I grumbled. I was still in my pajamas!

"Well, you weren't," Luke retorted cheerfully. Behind him, Bo looked apologetic, which softened my feelings slightly. But I was still annoyed.

"Do you _want_ to get sick too?"

"Bah, you're not contagious anymore," he replied confidently. "You caught the thing yesterday and you've been taking medicine, right? And even then, colds are really only spreadable before the symptoms start, if I remember correctly..."

I crossed my arms and kept silent. This wasn't really an argument over his wellbeing; it was an issue of my pride. I didn't want visitors coming and pitying me. But...

"Come on, just be happy your friends are here," Luke said a little more gently.

"Okay..." I gave in. "Now, why are you guys here, really? You didn't come to have a sympathy session for the poor sick girl, I hope."

A mischievous glint lit up in Luke's eyes. "How'd you know?" He and Bo exchanged glances, and then he grinned. "You up for a climb?"

I pulled my blanket around my shoulders, shivering. "_Why_ are we on my roof at six-thirty on a Fall evening?" I could see my breath and it was starting to get dark.

"Because it's a full moon tonight," Bo said. "We figured you might be lonely at home by yourself, and you might want something fun to do, so..."

"Oh," was all I could say in response. Then I rubbed the back of my head and smiled ruefully. "You know, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it if you guys hadn't have come."

"Really?" Bo looked taken aback. Then we both laughed.

"Hey guys! I got the dumplings!" Luke's voice called from the ground. He clattered up the ladder. I was just beginning to wonder how he had carried stuff up when he emerged with a bulging tool bag. I had to shake my head, but I was still smiling.

Luke's thick eyebrows raised. "Whoa, what happened? Audrey's _grinning!_"

To my internal amazement, and probably everyone else's, instead of feeling irritated at Luke's teasing I laughed some more. This was probably the most I had laughed since before my father died.

Maybe my cold was getting to my head. But even if it was, I found myself not caring. I was with my only two friends I'd ever really had outside of family; you were supposed to have fun and let yourself go a bit, right? Besides, this was the most happy I'd felt since... well, you can guess.

Luke matched my grin, delighted at me opening up a little more, and came to sit down on my right. Bo was occupying the left side. My blue-haired friend pulled out three large bundles and passed two of them to me. I gave one to Bo.

"This is a lot of dumplings," I observed, eyebrows raised as I unraveled my napkin. The contents spread out across my lap.

"It probably would've been more fun to make them if you were there," Bo admitted. Luke nodded in assent, and I found myself blushing. Good thing it was dark.

I took a bite of one of the soft round delicacies. "Mmm!" I exclaimed with my mouth full. I swallowed. "These are great, guys."

"Thanks," they both laughed. "Well, I bet you if they were made by Chase they'd taste better, but still, thanks," Luke added modestly. I rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder with mine. He looked at me and for some reason I couldn't take my eyes away from his.

"Hey, the moon is up!" Bo's voice finally wrenched me away. Why was my heart practically doing a tap dance in my chest? I subtly took a deep breath. Yeah, my cold was definitely messing with my brain, I was sure of it now.

We all admired the moon and chatted and ate our dumplings happily as the giant glowing orb rose higher and higher into the starry night sky. The only drawback was that as the night wore on, it only got colder, and my thin blanket wasn't doing much to help no matter how tightly I pulled it around my shoulders. Soon I was shivering, though I didn't dare complain. I had many reasons not to.

Unfortunately, Luke caught on pretty quick. After we finished all the dumplings, he spoke. "Audrey, you must be freezing," he said, as if I was the one without a blanket. Without waiting for my opinion, he scooted closer to me. So close we were pressed together. I stiffened in embarrassment, but then felt a little better as Bo did the same. But Luke was still closer. As in, if we turned our heads towards each other, our noses would almost be touching. For some reason all I could really focus on was that fact, my face gradually heating up the more I thought about it.

_Just friends! We're. Just. Friends._

It was probably approaching midnight when the tolls of my illness got the better of me. Even though most of my symptoms were fading - my nose was merely slightly stuffy rather than a constant stream of nastiness - all of a sudden I was _exhausted._ So tired, in fact, that I forgot about Luke being so close. It didn't even register with me when my head gravitated to his shoulder as I fought to keep my eyes open. I just wanted to stay awake a minute longer; I wanted to tell the guys something.

"Thanks... you guys," I murmured drowsily. "This whole thing... was really nice of you. You've made me really happy." A small smile stayed on my face as I dozed off.

After he was sure I was asleep, Bo spoke. "Audrey has really changed since she first arrived here, hasn't she?"

Luke shook his head, careful not to dislodge my position on his shoulder. "Nah, she hasn't changed a bit. This side of her was just hiding for a long time."

The younger boy looked thoughtful, then he smiled. "I guess you're right, huh?"

I woke up in the morning in my bed. I blinked at the ceiling, then sat up. I was still in my silly cherry-patterned pajamas. I started to wonder how the guys had carried me down from the roof when a slip of paper on my nightstand caught my eye. I picked it up.

In messy handwriting that could only be Luke's, the note read;

_Yo,_

_Just wanted to let you know that Pops let you have today off. Glad you had fun last night. Hope to see you tomorrow, but if you're still not feeling well, just let us know!_

_-L_

_P.S.; You look great with your hair down. It really suits you! I've always wondered why you keep it in braids most of the time; I would've thought that was too childish for your tastes. Anyways, see you soon!_

My cheeks warmed as I read the last part. I wasn't quite sure whether to smile or frown at the complement; it conflicted with my reasons for wearing my hair in braids.

The next day, I briefly considered wearing my hair down anyways, but then decided against it. I couldn't let Luke's opinions sway me so easily. I was starting to worry myself.

When I arrived at the carpenter's, everyone gave me a warm welcome back, but the air seemed to be buzzing with excitement for a reason other than my return. I was curious but didn't ask, though I got an explanation later in the day.

"Did you hear, Audrey?" Bo asked after Luke came for his shift in the woods. "Dr. Jin is getting married to Craig and Ruth's daughter, Anissa. It's been a really long time since there was a wedding here, so it's kind of a big deal."

I'm sure all the color drained from my face at the mention of the doctor and farmer girl, but luckily I was behind a tree where no one could see me. I forced myself to keep swinging my copper axe. "That's nice," I replied, hopefully sounding politely indifferent.

"Really, it's too bad," Luke contributed to the conversation. "Anissa is pretty hot."

A strong emotion I was not used to experiencing surged through me. Now my face was burning, and again I was glad for the cover of the tree. Jealousy.

Why was I feeling _jealous?_

_Keep working, Audrey,_ the sane part of me advised. I was silent for the rest of my time outside, losing myself in the rhythm of my strikes and boiling in my own turbulent emotions.

I was relieved when Friday came again. Finally, a day off to myself. Actually, two days; the flea market took place the twenty-second of every month, but I still wouldn't attend. Maybe I'd actually stop thinking of Luke for once. It was beginning to scare me, how often the boy with the flaming bandana appeared in my thoughts. At completely random times, too.

That week I had unwittingly reverted to my old self; withdrawn and quiet. My responses to people were short and curt. Not even Bo could draw a smile out of me.

I was oblivious to myself, but what I did notice was Luke, who seemed to be frowning quizzically at me instead of his usual grin. I wondered what his problem was, but I was trying to avoid him as much as possible at the same time. The feelings that flooded me whenever I saw him... were not to my liking. And most distracting.

After I silently exited the building on Friday, eager for a good night's sleep and a two-day weekend, Luke turned to Bo, a helpless and miffed look on his face. "Did I say something wrong to her? Why is she acting like this?"

Bo shrugged, also looking troubled. "It... might've been when you called Anissa 'hot'."

Luke's eyebrows drew together. "But Audrey wouldn't get worked up over something petty like that..."

_She might if she liked someone,_ Bo longed to say, but couldn't get the words out. He didn't know how Luke would react to that. Would it go to his head and end up scaring me away?

Either way, Luke wasn't talking anymore. He had sat down at the workbench by the window - where I usually sat - and was staring outside, his chin on his hand. Bo's eyes trailed to the window as well, and he saw it was getting pretty windy.

With a sigh, he left Luke to his pondering and went to help Dale with dinner.

A good night's sleep was too much to hope for, wasn't it?

Near midnight I was startled awake by a noise I couldn't identify. The wind was howling outside, so I assumed it had been a tree branch slapping against the wall or something. But then I heard a pounding on the door.

I groaned into my pillow. _Really, Luke?_

Since last weekend, I shouldn't have really cared about him seeing me in my nightclothes, but I put on my sweater and jeans anyways. I left my hair as it was.

I cracked the door open. "It's a stormy night at twelve in the morning, Luke. What could you possibly want?"

He was fully dressed as well. The fang hanging on his necklace glinted in the moonlight. I resisted the urge to feel for my own pendant. The sky was perfectly clear, contradicting to the winds moving at nearly twenty miles per hour.

"Oh, good, you're dressed," he said perkily, ignoring what I said. "Wanna do something fun?"

I peered at him suspiciously. "This isn't some sort of completely weird dream, is it?"

Luke laughed, and despite my annoyance and dread that he was here, my own spirits lightened somewhat. He grabbed my hand. "Come on, I'll show you." And he whisked me off before I even had a chance to blush.

He led me up the familiar path I took every day on my way to work. I seriously wondered where he could be taking me so late at night.

Soon we were at the clearing, and then... he hopped over the fence, letting go of me as he did so. My hand instantly felt cold, but I was staring at him. "We're allowed to go over the fence?" I almost shouted, the wind masking my voice from any light sleepers.

"Sure we are! Just not allowed to cut trees past the fence." He held out his hand again. "Want help over?"

"I'm not a wimp or anything," I said, disgruntled, sticking my tongue out at him as I climbed over after him.

He grinned. "I know. I was just trying to be _gentlemanly."_ I shook my head and he took my hand once more anyways. "Not far now. Don't trip on any logs."

Luke guided me through the woods - which were more vast than I had originally imagined. Or maybe the dark made them seem bigger. In any case, we traveled for about three more minutes, the only sounds audible being the leaves rustling above us in the wind and an occasional snap of a twig. No animals were out in the wind storm tonight.

I nearly bumped into Luke when he stopped, since I was mesmerized by the tranquil woods. When my attention was diverted ahead of us, I gasped. The biggest oak tree I'd ever seen loomed before us.

As I gawked, I nearly missed Luke say, "Pretty cool, huh? We're gonna climb it!"

"What?" I asked absently. Then I registered what he had said. "Wait, _what?"_

Beside me he was grinning triumphantly, as if he'd already reached the top.

"You're insane. Climbing one of the tallest trees in the forest, at night, with no harnesses or safety precautions of any kind whatsoever? What could you be thinking?"

He tilted his head to the side. "I said we were gonna do something fun, didn't I?"

For a moment I struggled to fight off a smile. Luckily the ever-growing feeling of incredulousness overpowered my hysteria. "But... But..." I sputtered. "There are no branches at the bottom. How do you expect to get up?"

"There are plenty of handholds in the bark." He walked over to the tree and hoisted himself up a few feet by grabbing at the trunk.

"Oh, so you've done this before?" That would make me feel a little better, at least.

"Um... Kind of."

I raised an eyebrow at him. He couldn't see me, but my silence was just as effective.

"I've made it like, half-way," he admitted. "Oh, just get over here and climb. You're not chicken, are you?" He turned and offered his hand once again, the mischievous glint in his eyes returned.

Pressing my lips together at his mockery, I ran to the tree and started climbing up next to him.

"There you go!" he praised. "That's more like it!" He continued up as well. I was left scrambling after him. Which I was not happy about. Somehow this had turned into a race in my head. I shouted a taunt at him, and he answered with one of his own. We began bantering and laughing as we climbed.

_We must be high up now..._ I hadn't looked down since we began. Luke paused, panting, and sat down on a branch. I tried to reach the limb as well, but as I reached out, my foot slipped from its place.

I caught my breath. For a paralyzing moment that seemed to last forever, yet probably took no more than a heartbeat, I began to fall.

"Audrey!" Luke yelped, the horror evident in his voice. He thrust his hand out, snatching mine in the nick of time.

Fortunately, he had been straddling the bough he sat on. If he hadn't been, he probably would have fallen with me.

Speechless, I brought up my other hand and gripped his tightly. I was literally hanging on for my life.

"I've got you," Luke assured me breathlessly. With some effort, he pulled me up until I could reach the branch on my own. Even as I heaved myself up, his arms hovered protectively around me, just in case.

When I was securely seated, I risked a glance downward. Well, I probably wouldn't have died after all. Definitely a few bones would be broken, but unless I fell head-first, not dead.

Luke and I looked at each other. Then burst out laughing as if on cue.

There was definitely something wrong with me. I should have been angry, shocked, still scared out of my wits; anything but amused! And yet for some reason none of those emotions even attempted to appear.

"Hopefully that won't happen again," Luke said, more seriously. I nodded. "All right, let's see if we can reach the top!" Without further adieu, we continued climbing, though we made an effort to stay closer together.

About a minute later Luke came to a halt and glanced back to the ground. "This is about the half-way point," he told me. "Now's where the real challenge begins!"

"Bring it on!" I replied, exhilarated by the height and adrenaline pulsing through me. I felt ready to do anything; my scare just several minutes ago seemed a thing of the past.

"That's the spirit!" he said in approval, then we took off.

After twenty minutes of weaving through branches and helping each other up from time to time, I suddenly caught sight of the sky. Tapping Luke's shoulder, I pointed upwards. "We're almost there."

"Awesome! Let's find a branch to sit on."

Luckily oaks are sturdy trees that don't have very many puny twigs for branches near the top. We had no trouble finding a limb that could support our weight while giving us a great view at the same time.

It wasn't until I sat down that I realized how tired I was. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving my arms and legs shaky and sore. I also noticed, as I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, that I was quite sweaty. I would've been embarrassed, but Luke wasn't any better off than me in those departments.

"Well, we did it," I managed after catching my breath. "But now I'm really thirsty."

Luke laughed. "Me too. But it was so worth it, don't you think? I mean, where else can you get a view like this?" He spread his arms wide, a gesture to the clear sky above us. Stars twinkled everywhere. It was even more beautiful that the last weekend's moon watching, if I said so myself.

"Very true..." I breathed, in awe of the spectacular sight. I almost didn't notice Luke subtly scoot closer to me. Almost. It's hard to move sneakily when the branch you're sitting on rattles at every slight disturbance.

I cleared my throat, keeping my gaze on the sky in an attempt to cover up the awkwardness. "So, Luke," I began, preparing to ask the question that had been weighing on my mind since we started this whole fiasco. "Be honest; why on Earth did you make me climb a tree with you in the middle of the night?"

He thought for a moment, probably choosing his words carefully. An anomaly for Luke. "Because I missed your smile," he finally said.

Caught off-guard, my startled gaze flicked to him for a moment. His attention was carefully trained on the stars, though, as mine had been. "Wha-?"

"You seemed really down this past week. Or mad. Or _something,_ because you totally closed yourself off. And Bo and I were worried." Now his golden eyes met mine in a sidelong glance. "So I figured, 'maybe she just needs something fun to do'."

"Oh." I sounded strangled. Were my mood swings that noticeable? Also, I felt completely and utterly guilty, because it had been Luke in the first place who had set me off. I felt ashamed of myself for getting so beside myself just because he had called another girl attractive.

"Bo suggested you were put off by me calling Anissa hot," Luke told me. It was hard to tell in the moonlight, but I thought his face looked a little red. "If- If it was that, I'm sorry..."

"No, no!" I said, a bit too quickly. "It wasn't that at all. I just... had a lot of stuff on my mind." It wasn't entirely a lie.

"Ah, good, because I thought that Bo's reasoning was a little far-fetched anyways. I mean, you're definitely not the type of girl to get weirded out about stuff like that, am I right?" He laughed, an attempt to relieve some of the tension.

I forced myself to contribute a few chuckles and desperately hoped he couldn't see my horrified face.

"Oh, wow, a shooting star!"

Infinitely grateful for the change in subject, I returned my gaze to the sky. "Yeah, there's another one!" _Chill out. Just enjoy yourself for once,_ some inner part of me demanded.

"Great, one for each of us." Luke grinned. "Hurry, make a wish!" He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

_What? A wish? I don't know what to wish for..._ I'd never wished on a shooting star before. Not even when I was young. It seemed so childish to me now...

I prepared to disappoint Luke when he would immediately ask me what I had wished for, but he didn't say anything at all after he opened his eyes again. When he saw me staring questioningly at him, he guessed what I was thinking and laughed. "Jeez, Audrey, I'm not that nosy. Don't you know it's bad luck to tell other people your wish before it comes true? If you do, then it'll never happen."

"O-Oh, I see," I muttered, turning away, again ashamed.

We sat in silence - Luke content, me practically squirming with guilt - for a while, until he spoke again. "Okay, we'd better make our way back down. It'll be dawn in a few hours."

I nodded restraining myself form sighing in relief. Don't get me wrong; the stars were amazing, but I'd been drowning in my own misery for a good half-hour.

"Now, getting down is harder than coming up..." Luke began instructing me on how to properly get down the tree. I listened to him intently, trying to drown out my other thoughts.

Even though it was more difficult going down the giant oak tree, the journey downwards still seemed much faster than the way up. Before I knew it we were standing at my porch again.

"Um, thank you, Luke," I said awkwardly. "I guess I did kinda need something fun to do. This was really fun."

He nodded, grinning goofily as always. "Anytime, Audrey."

I had to smile. "Good night."

"Ditto!"

And with that he began to walk away.

I don't know why, but I was slow to open my door. I stood there a few moments before turning around. But as I pushed on the doorknob, Luke's voice stopped me half-way.

"Wait a sec, Audrey!" he exclaimed, running back towards me. "I forgot something."

I was about to ask him what he could have possibly forgotten, seeing as he never brought anything but the clothes on his back in the first place, but he hadn't been talking about an object. Before I knew what was happening, Luke was by my side, planting a kiss on my cheek. Then as quick as he had been there, he was back to running down the path. "See ya Monday, Audrey!"

Dazed, I floated inside my house and sank onto my bed, my hand on my cheek where his kiss still lingered. I was sure my face was all sorts of shades of pink and red, and my heart was going completely nuts.

Then I realized; I couldn't deny it anymore. The symptoms were too glaringly obvious to ignore them. I was falling in love with Luke.

And I had to stop.

The beginning half of Sunday was spent mulling over how I was going to do it. Break it to Luke that we couldn't be doing this; not unless he wanted to move away with me in three years. But that seemed so unlikely I just left it out of the equation.

I wondered how he would respond. I narrowed it down to three main reactions; first, he could deny it, say he wasn't in love with me. In which case I would feel like an idiot. But I had not imagined that kiss the night before, and I didn't think he'd go so far as to claim that hadn't happened. So this was the least likely to happen.

Next option was anger. This one almost seemed the best, because I could handle mad people. I felt the emotion often enough to know what to do.

Lastly, and this was the most likely, he'd just be sad. In any of the scenarios I'd definitely break his heart, but with the other two reactions he wouldn't show it so plainly.

I know this all may seem a bit silly. We only really had crushes on each other, and even then it hadn't been for very long. But I had to take this seriously; I had to nip the bud before it bloomed, because if it did bloom, I didn't know if I could bring myself to cut it. And then where would my dreams for my future be?

So that afternoon, I marched to Waffle Square, braving my agoraphobia, feeling ready to throw up and burst into tears at the same time. I was breaking my own heart here too, you know.

I had no trouble finding the carpenter's stand. Ignoring everyone else's greetings, I went straight up to Luke, who was hawking to people to buy furniture I had made. "Hey, Audrey!" He sounded surprised, but pleased. "I didn't think you were coming."

I swallowed hard. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" My voice was a wisp, and I was amazed he even heard me.

A concerned frown formed on his face. "Yeah, of course."

I led him outside the arch that marked you were entering town and away from the path a bit, where no one could hear us.

We stood there for a moment in silence. I focused on the yellow grass beneath me; I had totally forgotten my rehearsed conversation.

"Take your time," Luke said gently, in understanding. That made me want to cry all over again. How could he be so kind when I had come here only to hurt him?

I had to say something, now. "I-I'm sorry, Luke, but we can't continue this." I was still looking down.

"What are you talking about?" When I dared a glance up, he was looking at me quizzically. But there was something in his eyes that told me he had guessed what this was about.

I tried a more direct approach. "I know you're in love with me." I couldn't believe I was saying this - I sounded so insensitive; so sure without much proof - but I had to push on. "And... And I'm scared, because I think I'm in love with you too." Here came the threatening tears... I couldn't bring myself to say anymore for the moment.

Luke didn't say anything either until the mixture of shock and embarrassment left his face, for the most part. "Being in love is nothing to be scared about," he said with an unsteady chuckle.

I shook my head. "It is for me, because I'm leaving in two-and-a-half years! Don't you see? We can't be together!" It seemed I was getting more worked up about this than he was.

"What? You're leaving? Since when?" He looked genuinely confused.

I blinked. "I never told you...?" _Oh no._ This was going to be worse than I thought. My plans had always been so clear in my head, I guessed I'd just assumed everyone else knew...

"No. Since when were you going to leave?" he repeated.

"Since I first got here! Three years from when I got here, I'm going to move to the city so I can start a carpentry business of my own." My voice became quieter the longer I spoke. "This was all for training."

"Oh." His eyebrows drew together, considering what I said. "Well, don't tell me you didn't think you'd make any friends here."

Honestly, I hadn't. "But _friends_ and _lovers_ are different."

Luke tried to grab my hands, but I pushed them away. "I'll go with you when you move, then," he said simply.

I was surprised that he suggested it, and my heart leapt at the idea, but... "No. I can't ask you to leave your dad and Bo."

"Yet you can ask yourself to?"

Startled, I looked back at his face. He was suggesting that I just stay on Waffle Island?

"You know, Pops and Bo care about you too! I'm not the only one who will miss you!" Now he was frustrated.

The tears were spilling over, running down my cheeks now. If I said anything I'd start sobbing.

"But I can't ask you to give up your dreams." His eyes lost the fire in them, accepting he had lost. "If this is really what you want - if this will make you happy - I won't stop you."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. Then, after a moment's hesitation of looking into his crestfallen eyes, I ran. I felt like such a coward; such a horrible person. But I didn't know what else to do.

When I finally stormed inside my house, I kicked the first thing my foot could reach, which happened to be my suitcase. It slid across the floor and hit the wall with a satisfying thud, making the front flap pop open for a second. I thought I saw a bulge in it.

For some reason I went over to investigate, wiping my nose before lifting the cover up. There was a pocket on the inside that I hadn't noticed before. I wondered how it could have escaped me.

Unzipping it, I pulled out a yellow square of fabric. I had to stare at it in confusion for a moment until I recognized it as my baby blanket.

My teeth clenched. My mother had slipped it in after all. Why'd I have to find it _now,_ of all times?

I stared at the blanket for a few more seconds before burying my face in it and weeping again.

I had done what was for the best. Right?

The next week was pure torture.

I tried to avoid Luke, but he didn't seem to want to steer clear of me. Maybe he thought we could still be friends. But didn't he understand that if I got close to him again, I'd just end up falling for him again too?

If it wasn't bad enough that he had been trying to be kind, every time I talked to him I saw the hurt in his eyes and sensed the hesitance in his words. As the last week of Fall wore on, his attempts gradually ceased.

Bo and Dale seemed to pick up on Luke's half-hearted energy and my bitterness, but kept quiet. Bo looked about ready to explode from worry and unasked questions, though. I almost felt bad. But I wasn't ready to talk yet. I didn't know if I'd ever be. I had given this wound to myself, and it wasn't healing as easily as expected.

On the first day of Winter, I woke up to find the surrounding landscape covered in snow. The white flakes were still coming down as well.

Some people find snow beautiful and calming. Others find it a nuisance. Me, when I look out a window and see snow, I flinch. Unlike most people, I do not have happy childhood memories of snow. My memories are filled with terror and sorrow. Because it was a snowy night that the news of my father's death was brought to me; it was snow that had killed him.

I still recalled it as if it were yesterday. That morning I remembered my father going to work, as always, but Mom had seemed stressed. The snow as coming down pretty hard. Dad reassured Mom he'd be fine, and kissed her cheek before heading out. Shawn, thirteen at the time, kept talking to Mom the whole day, as if to keep her preoccupied.

Six-year-old me, not able to comprehend what my mother was worried about, busied myself with a puzzle for most of the day.

When it was time for Dad to come home, there was no routine opening of the door accompanied by stomping boots, no scooping me up in his arms and bringing me to the dinner table. Mom and Shawn's faces became a little pale.

Suddenly, a half-hour later, the door burst open. I hugged myself as a burst of cold air wafted inside and looked up, expecting my father. But instead of the familiar green and wise blue eyes, a muscular black-haired man stood. It was one of my father's co-workers, Al, if I remembered correctly.

My mother and brother rushed over to him, knowing something was amiss. "Dan's missing," was all the man said, huffing as if he had run here as fast as he could.

Mom put her hand over her mouth in horror, while Shawn immediately got their Winter coats and boots out. He then came over to me and told me to stay put, assuring me me that he and Mom would be back soon. Then all three disappeared out the door.

I made my way to the window, where I sat dutifully and awaited their return, along with my father's. The snow was so thick I could make it out in the darkness. When I looked back on it, I was surprised at how calm I was.

Two hours later, they returned. Dad was not with them. Mom was sobbing. Shawn had his teeth gritted together, as if in pain, and dry tear paths were streaked down his face. I stared at my older brother wide-eyed as he told me the harsh truth; that our father was dead. He had been found deep in the woods, crushed by a fallen tree.

That was the first time I had truly felt fear. I knew what being "dead" meant, even back then. It meant the person was gone, and never, ever coming back. The brutal reality crashed down on my child self, and I let loose a long, heartbroken wail, and ran to my mother's arms.

A bird flying past my window snapped me back to reality. I sighed and prepared for another painful day at work.

On the third I went to the Sundae Inn for dinner, on an impulse. The bar had opened but they were still serving food, so I ordered a salad and picked at it miserably.

"Hey, Audrey, what brings you here?"

I glanced up at the unfamiliar voice to see Luke's friend Owen. His red hair and gray eyes were unmistakeable even though I'd only met him once. "I'm eating dinner, what does it look like?" I said brusquely. Usually I made an effort to be polite to strangers, but my facade was wearing thin as of late.

He raised an eyebrow and proceeded to sit at the chair across from me. "You know, Luke's been acting pretty strangely. You don't seem to be in a good mood either. I'm finding it hard to believe it's just a coincidence."

I clenched my jaw and stabbed my salad with my fork instead of replying. I didn't meet his gaze.

"I thought so." Owen sighed. "You know, Luke really admires you. He's told me too many times to count; he thinks you're smart, pretty, hardworking..."

I was too despondent to even blush. "I know," I interrupted him quietly. "I know he thinks that."

Owen's tone changed to puzzlement; "Then why...?"

"You don't understand!" I burst out. "You couldn't get it even if you tried." I had _plans._ Dreams that I wasn't quite willing to let go of just yet.

But I also wasn't quite willing to let go of Luke just yet, either. And it was tearing me apart.

I stood up abruptly, my chair scraping across the floor. Several bar patrons stopped what they were doing or saying to glance my way. Without another word, I set my payment for my food down on the table and turned to leave.

"Audrey," Owen said. I paused, but didn't turn back. "I might not understand your reasons for doing this, but... Try to reconsider. Luke is really hurting right now, and I can tell you are too."

My face dark, I swept myself out the door and swiftly returned to my house. I only allowed myself to cry for five minutes.

Surprisingly, the week went by quickly after the encounter with Owen at the bar. I would have expected it to seem long and sullen, but before I knew it it was the seventh. I'd had a nice, relaxing Saturday, and as I burrowed under the warm covers of my bed that night I dared to think that maybe I was finally getting used to things between Luke and me.

But then a stab of sorrow drove through my heart, and I knew I was still a long ways off from getting over that boy.

I didn't know what time it was, but it was very late when the frantic knocking sounded on my front door. I leapt out of bed instantly, a dreadful feeling already welling up inside me.

Bo stood on my front porch, panting, his freckled face alarmed. "Luke's missing."

I took a step back, shocked. It was so similar... "How-?"

"No time to explain. We have to find him!" Bo was practically pleading. He knew I had been intentionally avoiding our friend the past week.

He didn't have to say it twice, though. Pulse already racing, I ran with Bo, who led me to the clearing. Snow stung my face. _Oh Goddess..._ I thought faintly, my heart in my throat. _It's a snowstorm._

Dale was already there. "Good, you're here. Let's split up. Luke's in the woods."

Bo and I nodded and we each assigned ourselves different sections of the forest. I chose which way I thought was in the direction of the oak tree.

"Luke!" I yelled desperately.

_I can't lose him too._

"Luke!" I sprinted as fast as I could to nowhere in particular.

_If he dies..._

_"Luke!"_

I stumbled over a root, caught myself, then paused. My hands on my knees, I tried to catch my breath. It was a blizzard, I had no coat, and yet I was sweaty.

"Where are you, Luke?" I called pathetically, knowing full-well nobody could hear me. I was on the verge of tears. Again.

And suddenly, I realized something. I wouldn't have been able to leave Luke even if I'd wanted to in the first place. My attempt to sever our relationship, breaking his heart as well as my own, was completely futile. I was here on Waffle Island to stay.

Now I not only had to rescue that idiot, but I had to tell him. That I was sorry. And that I loved him.

Refueled by my epiphany, I charged onwards.

A half-hour later, though, I was beginning to feel dispirited. I knew he wasn't dead, but maybe one of the others had found him. I was also tired, and my hands, feet, and face were beginning to feel numb despite my running.

_Ten more minutes,_ I decided. _Then I'll turn back._ And if Dale or Bo hadn't found him... I'd search again.

I was nearing the end of my time limit when I saw a dark silhouette of a person through the haze of snow. It had to be him. Relief and excitement flooded through me, and a smile came to my face as I lunged forwards, calling wildly to him.

I was running too fast to stop in time when I heard a sharp, threatening _crack_ from above. My shouts to Luke turned into a cry of pain as a large branch from a pine tree snapped and brought me to the ground along with it.

Cheeks and eyelids stinging with cold from the face plant I had performed, I lifted my head and twisted it to try and see what had just happened. When I tried to wriggle out from the bough's hold, my left leg turned into a pinnacle of agony. With a gasp I froze in place, not daring to upset it anymore. It continued to throb.

My body heat was melting the snow beneath me and icy water seeped into the fabric of my pajamas. My stupid cherry-print pajamas. What kind of an idiot goes out in a blizzard at _night,_ in their _pajamas?_ Certainly not me. But there I was. Maybe it was true when people said love makes you crazy.

"Luke!" I wailed, desperate for a different reason now. What would happen if he didn't come? Reality hit me like a tsunami; I could die.

"Audrey?" It was faint, but definitely decipherable.

I almost felt like crying in relief. "Luke, over here!" I never imagined I could possibly be so happy at the mere sound of boots crunching in snow, coming towards me.

I strained to look up at Luke. His voice held the alarm that I couldn't see through the snow in his face. "Audrey! Oh, Goddess, what happened? Are you all right?"

"Do I _look_ all right?" I snapped without thinking, my exhaustion getting the better of me. "Sorry... I was running towards you when a branch fell without warning."

"Give me a minute and I'll have you up in no time." With as much care as he could afford, Luke pushed the heavy tree limb off me with a grunt. Then he set to helping me stand.

"Wa-Watch my leg!" I warned, too late. A yelp of pain escaped me as he accidentally jarred my left leg. "I think it's broken," I added through gritted teeth.

"Sorry!" he apologized quickly, wide-eyed. "If it's broken, you can't walk on it. Let me carry you."

I was about to protest when a wave of drowsiness overcame me. Suddenly I was too woozy to object. I was also shivering - the cold had finally gotten to me.

I don't even remember if I felt any pain when he hoisted me up. All I can recall is my arms around his neck, face buried in his jacket shoulder, and just being content to be in his arms.

It was well past noon the next day when I woke up. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and took in my surroundings, vaguely recognizing the clinic. I sat up. My pajamas had been replaced with a soft blue robe. Attempting to wiggle my toes, I discovered I couldn't move the ones on my left foot. But there was no discomfort.

I considered lifting the blanket to see what had become of my injured leg, but it was so nice and warm underneath it. I was still weighing my options when the old nurse appeared. I still couldn't remember her name.

"Ah, good. You're awake," she said with a kind smile. She walked to the other side of the closed-off area I was in and opened a wardrobe. I caught a glimpse of my pink nightclothes, but the old woman brought something else out instead. She turned around and in her hands were two wooden crutches. "Let's give these a try, shall we?"

So I had broken my leg. As I swung my legs over the side of the hospital bed, sure enough, there was a white cast covering my left leg from the knee down. I glanced up at the nurse, trying not to be embarrassed. "I'm really sorry, but I can't remember your name..."

"Oh, that's all right," she chuckled. "It's Irene."

Shakily, I stood up, trying to put as little weight as possible on my bad leg. Irene handed me the crutches, and I clumsily situated them underneath my arms, with some help from her. Then I hobbled over to where I had more room and tried practicing with them.

"Looks like you've got the hang of it," Irene congratulated me. "You'll have to deal with these for around two weeks before we can remove your cast, I'm afraid."

My face fell. "That will hold me up at work."

She shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, but that's how long it will take to heal..." She then seemed to remember something. "Speaking of work, you have some visitors. I almost forgot. Let me go get them." The old woman turned and shuffled down the stairs.

A smile had just appeared on my mouth when loud footsteps pounded up the stairs. "Audrey!" Luke ran towards me, then stopped short in front of me. "Thank the Goddess you're all right! I kept wanting to come up here sooner, but Pops and Bo wouldn't let me while you were sleeping. They thought I'd yell or something and wake you up..." He trailed off his babbling, and I saw the longing in his eyes. I realized he still thought that I was leaving in two years. He thought I didn't want him near me.

I dropped my crutches and hugged him, burying my face into his shoulder. "Don't scare me like that ever again," I choked out, muffled by his jacket.

After a second of hesitation, he returned my embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I would cause so much trouble."

A short laugh escaped me. "What were you doing out there, anyways?"

"Well... I had to let off some steam. I was kinda frustrated and depressed since your, uh... rejection."

I pulled back to look him in the eyes, but his wouldn't meet mine. He had sure done a good job of hiding most of those feelings in the following weeks after that painful conversation. Although Owen seemed to have picked up on them.

"Luke," I said. He reluctantly met my gaze. "I decided I'm not moving. I'm going to stay here on Waffle Island. With you, if you can forgive me."

He stared at me for a moment, as if making sure he'd heard right, then grinned ear-to-ear. Without another word, he leaned in and kissed me, full on the lips.

We broke apart laughing, though my hands stayed around his neck. I heard a rustle to the side, and glanced over to see Bo staring at me as if I'd sprouted wings. I laughed again and let go of Luke, who crouched down to grab my crutches for me. We then walked downstairs to break the news to Bo and Dale at once.

And for the first time, I was truly happy.


	4. Epilogue

Several days after my make-up with Luke, I got a letter in the mail. It was from my brother, announcing he had gotten engaged. Unfortunately, I couldn't go to the wedding due to my broken leg; on Dr. Jin's orders, I wasn't to leave the island until I was all healed up. The fracture hadn't been too serious, but it could get worse if I moved around too much.

I wondered what my new sister-in-law was like. Now I was more impatient than ever for my leg to heal.

But I got to meet her soon enough. On Summer second, which just so happened to be my one-year anniversary of living on Waffle Island, Luke proposed to me. As soon as the news that I was going to get married reached them, Mom and Shawn sailed over.

Shawn's wife was a petite, shy little thing with pale pink hair and large green eyes. It was kind of hard to believe that she was five years older than me. But Lydia was very nice, and we got along well.

Of course, Luke and Shawn hit it off immediately. They were so much alike, I already knew they'd make great friends.

But I was surprised by the change in personality when Luke met my mother. He turned into a polite and formal gentleman. I was taken aback, and pulled him aside after the introduction was over. "What are you doing?" I asked with a laugh. "Just be yourself."

"But what if she doesn't like me?" he said nervously.

I raised an eyebrow. "She's had to put up with my brother for over eighteen years. I think she can handle you."

He smiled somewhat bashfully. "All right, if you say so."

The wedding was huge. So many people came, I nearly keeled over in shock. But Luke was right by my side the whole time, and I found his presence distracting and comforting from my agoraphobia.

Afterwards, he moved in with me in my tiny house. We immediately set to remodeling it in order to house the two of us. Bo and Dale helped, even though Luke and I insisted on doing most of the work ourselves. A year later, we suddenly had to expand the house a bit more. I was pregnant... with twins.

To tell you the truth, I was somewhat terrified. One baby would've been shocking enough, but _two at once?_ Long hours were spent on the phone with my mother, and Lydia - who had already had her first child. My niece's name was Clara, and Shawn completely adored and spoiled her.

Not to mention, my mood swings were terrorizing. Luckily Luke somehow knew how to handle me when I was irritated at everything. At one point, and this was one of the more humiliating moments, I broke down in tears for no apparent reason. Luke was always there for me, and I was infinitely grateful.

It was at the carpenter's shop one Spring day when my water broke. I was seized by paralyzing pain and nearly fell down on the spot. "Luke!" I called, straining to keep my voice somewhat calm, from where I sat in the back room of the shop. "I need to get to the clinic!"

He rushed over, wide-eyed. "What? Is it time? Are you sure?"

"These kids want out... _Now!"_

In the end, Dale and Bo had to help me to the hospital. Luke was practically useless, running around in frenzied panic. I almost had to smile in amusement. Then another contraction came and I bit the inside of my cheek and squeezed my eyes shut.

Finally, after five hours of labor, two new additions to the family were here; Micah and Zoey.

Micah, the older of the twins by a full two minutes, had Luke's blue hair and my brown eyes. Zoey, on the other hand, was the opposite; my green hair and Luke's yellow eyes. She was rambunctious and a trouble-maker; she took after her father immensely. Micah was more quiet and reserved, and, at first glance, seemed to take after me, but I warned people not to let it fool them. He had some of his father in him too, and would catch people by surprise with his mischievousness.

Luke and I took them to work with us often, not trusting them with their antics in the house alone. Also, the extra help from Dale and Bo was a real stress-eliminator.

"Mooooom!" a little girl's excited voice penetrated my concentration. With a sigh - not an unhappy one, mind you - I set down my piece of wood I was engraving and glanced over to see Zoey. She was grinning, a mirror image of her father's own signature smile, and had a long red piece of cloth tied around her neck in addition to her normal outfit, a yellow dress with a red vest. It matched Bo's everyday clothes. She was also wearing a white headband, tied around her forehead and pinning her green bangs to her face. I could barely see her eyes.

I raised my eyebrows. "What are you doing with Bo's headband?"

My daughter ignored my inquiry. "I'm a superhero!" she announced, striking a heroic pose. I had to laugh.

"Zoey, I need my headband back...!" Bo stumbled into the room, holding his blonde hair off his forehead with one hand.

Zoey shrieked and took off running away from Bo, but her costume hindered her; the cape was too long and her hair was in her eyes, so she tumbled to the floor immediately. She lay there giggling as Bo approached.

"Gotcha!" My longtime friend crouched down to grab her, pulling her up to a standing position. He held out his hand expectantly. "May I please have it back?"

"Okay..." She gave in, untying the fabric from around her head and handing it back to him. "Sorry, Uncle Bo."

He smiled. "It's all right. I like your cape, by the way."

Her face brightened and she twirled around. "Awesome, isn't it? I used one of the tablecloths!" She paused to readjust it, tying it tighter so it didn't drag on the ground so much.

"Oh, really?" Bo's smile was now a forced one. I had to cover my mouth with my hand, trying not to laugh.

"Race you to the woods!" Suddenly my daughter was rushing out the door.

Startled, Bo started after her. "Zoey, wait!"

"Be careful!" I called after them, chuckling. I went back to work on my furniture. Bo usually ended up being our babysitter one way or another, half the time unintentionally. But he really enjoyed being around our kids, and Luke and I were grateful. Zoey could be a handful just by herself.

"Hi, Mom. What're you working on?" a quieter, calmer voice than Zoey's sounded beside me a few minutes later. I turned my head to face my son, gazing curiously at the wood burning I was doing.

"It's just a design for a desk I'm working on," I told him. "Would you like to help me?"

His eyes were a reflection of mine, brown as dark chocolate. They widened. "Can I?"

I smiled and gestured for him to sit in my lap. Peering over his navy blue hair, I set the engraver in his small hand and put my own gloved one on top of his. Gently, I guided his hand in the design I wanted.

"That's so cool!" he said in awe after I set the tool down again. He turned around to face me, eyes gleaming. I smiled.

"Hey Micah, do you know where your sister is?" Luke approached us, addressing his son.

Micah slid off my lap and shook his head. I spoke in his stead. "She went outside with Bo... Or more, ran away with Bo in hot pursuit." I chuckled, and my husband grinned.

"Well, it's almost closing time, so I was thinking we should head home," he suggested. I agreed, and stood up. The three of us said goodbye to Dale and then proceeded to collect Zoey, who at first was stubborn but Bo finally persuaded her to go.

"Tomorrow's an important day," Luke announced, our daughter on his shoulders and me holding our son's hand as we walked down the familiar pathway that the giant Mother Tree root used to be blocking. "My big seven-year-olds-to-be should get to bed early so they'll have energy for the awesome party we're gonna have!"

The twins both grinned, eyes sparkling in excitement. "I'm gonna be seven first," Micah boasted. "Cuz I'm the one who came first."

Zoey stuck her tongue out at her brother. "So what? I'm still cooler than you are!"

"Guys, guys," I butted in before things got too heated. "You're two minutes apart. Both of you will be seven at practically the same time!"

The kids stared at me uncomprehendingly. They were still too young to understand such a preposterous concept. I winced. _I shouldn't have told them that Micah was born first._

Then Luke tried. "How about this? When you get your ice cream sundaes tomorrow, you'll be seven." He winked at me, discreetly. Of course, we would give them the sundaes at the same time.

Micah and Zoey looked at each other wide-eyed. "I'm gonna get my sundae first, just wait and see!" Zoey proclaimed.

Luke and I exchanged glances again, shaking our heads but smiling.


End file.
